Sepulchral Guard

Before heading up to Warhammer World, I found myself with 2 days clear of any commitments... so I challenged myself to paint up the Sepulchral Guard Warband. I knew there wasn't enough time to paint up 7 models to the highest standard I could achieve, but I felt it was achievable to get them to a good tabletop standard within the time available. To do this I simply base coated and shaded the models- so no highlighting.

 Let's go through the steps...

All the model were undercoated with Vallejo Black Primer followed by a zenithal application of Vallejo Grey Primer from 45 degrees. On top of this I airbrushed the bone Rakarth Flesh > Pallid Wych Flesh > White Scar. 

The silver parts were painted Ledbelcher, whilst the gold was painted Balthazar Gold. For the various leather belts and other such details, I used Dryad Bark, Rhinox Hide and Doombull Brown. The Warden cape was airbrushed Khorne Red/Abaddon Black mix > Khorne Red > Wazdakka Red.

Following the base coats, I applied a coat of gloss Vallejo varnish. Once this had cured overnight I washed the models in a mix of Army Painters Dark Tone/Strong Tone/Wash Mixing Medium. After the wash had dried I weathered the various metal parts of the models: Ryza Rust was applied to the non-ferrous metals and Nihilakh Oxide to the ferrous metals.

To complete the models I painted the base with a mix of Mechanicus Standard Grey, Adminitratum Grey and Abaddon Black. The bases were then dry brushed with Sotek Green.

All in all, I was made up with how the models turned out considering the time spent on them. I always considered myself to a slow painter, and whilst that is certainly still the case, its good to prove to myself that I can turn around a unit quickly whilst maintaining a good standard of the paint job.

Sylvaneth Alarielle the Everqueen

The final part of the final model of my Sylvaneth army... Alarielle the Everqueen herself!

This model was a paint to paint!! I prepared the model by building into appropriate subassemblies before painting.

I won't describe each paint used as I essentially followed the colour scheme described in the WarhammerTV video below.

The main difference between the WarhammerTV guide and how I painted Alarielle was that I used the airbrush to highlight the dress (both inside and outside!), the transition to the leaves on the dress and the wings. I also painted the 3 blades of her staff in the same manner as I painted the weapon blades for my other Slyvaneth units - Baharroth Blue airbrushed over White Scar.

Here is a photo of Alarielle at Warhammer World! She looked awesome on the table and did me proud!!

Sylvaneth Alarielle and Wardroth Beetle Base

As soon as I completed the Wardroth Beetle I turned my attention to the base. I wanted to complete the base before moving on to Alarielle herself.

I was super excited to do the base as it gave me the chance to get more experience with lots of scenery building techniques which I've been picking up via YouTube. So, lets go through the design and steps involved in achieving the design!

As mentioned, I wanted to test out a few scenery techniques. Primarily these were:

·        using Scultamould,

·        using Rocks cast from Woodland scenics moulds,

·        Painting the rocks with the leopard spot techniques,

·        Using clear resin for a water pool,

·        Applying LukesAPS woodland floor scatter flock.

I learnt many of the above technique watching Lukes APS videos, check out his channel here.

First of all, I wanted to raise the Beetle up a little bit so the plaster cast rock had enough clearance under the model. After that had been finalised, I cracked open the sculptamould!

Once the sculptamould had been on the base for 5-10 minutes or so, I used a wet finger to smooth out the material.

I didn't seem to take any photos for much of the build, so let me cover the steps taken. Before the scultamould dried and became hard I added various little details like the tree stump, various larger rocks and root details. I then added various size rocks and sands and glued them into place with superglue. After that stage, I began the painting! I airbrushed the entire base with Vallejo Black Primer. Then, I painted the rocks with the leopard stop technique and the soil with a cheap Hobbycraft brown paint.

Then it was time to add the static grass and other texture... First of all, I coated the base with PVA and applied some Warlord Autumn Static Grass. Then I stuck some clump foliage, lichen and daffodil flowers with PVA. Then I sprinkled on some LukesAPS forest ground cover clock and finally some green leaf folliage. to seal these layers I applied multiple coats of watered down PVA and Isopropyl alcohol. The picture below is at this stage - if you look closely you can see how soaked the static grass is!

The final step was to add the Woodlands Scenics Realistic Water effects. This photo was taken after the first pour of resin. It took 3 pours to get the level I wanted. I think I could have done it in less, however, I didn't want to overdo it and ruin the base.

Citadel Wood - Base

For my Sylvaneth army, I needed some Wyldwoods so I can scoot around the board and provide some bonuses for my treefolk. So... I picked up 3 Citadel woods. These will allow for up to 3 Wyldwoods so should be enough!

As I was getting these ready for my trip to Warhammer World, I descoped painting the trees so this post just covers the painting of the base.

Painting
As usual, the model was primed with Vallejo Black Primer with the rocks picked out with Vallejo Grey Primer. Once the primer had cured, the base was painted with a cheap brown HobbyCraft paint.

I then painted the fallen trees and roots with Baneblade Bown and highlighted with Adminitratum Grey which then had some Nurgling Green mixed in.

The rocks were painted Pallid Wych Flesh. Once this had dried I used the Leopard Spot technique to add colour to the rocks. More details on this can be found in the video below.

The whole base was then washed in a homemade black wash made with a cheap black paint and water. I applied 2 coats of this to get the desired shade on the rocks.

Finally, the base was given a coat of watered down PVA

Flocking and other details
Once the painting was concluded I covered the base (except the rocks) with PVA. This provided the base for the static grass and forest floor flock.

The static grass was applied to a few areas of the base. Then, I applied LukesAPS forest floor scatter all over the base. After this, I added a few bits of clump foliage, some flower tufts and finally some fallen leaf debris. Once I was happy with the coverage of these materials, the base was given multiple coats of watered down PVA and some Isopropyl alcohol to seal and protect the model.

Sylvaneth Wardroth Beetle

With the unit of Kurnoth Hunters completed, that leaves only Alarielle, her Wardroth Beetle and some Wyldwoods to complete.

With the time of the essence (my army needed to be complete for a weekend trip to Warhammer World on the 27th April) I chose to prioritise Alarielle and Beetle above the Wyldwoods. Obviously, with such huge pieces of plastic, it was important to split the models down into sensible, manageable chunks. This helped with easy of painting but also so I didn't get overwhelmed. With this in mind I decided to tackle the Wardroth Beetle first and so split the model into 5 subassemblies:

• Head
• Left front leg
• Right front leg
• Front carapace
• Rear carapace

Whilst this helped, due to the size and shape of each piece, I still found the model very hard to paint! So let'sts go through the steps and colours used:

Step 1 - Priming

As with all my models, I primed with Vallejo Polyurethane Black Primer through the airbrush. I then applied a couple of quick coats of Vallejo Grey Primer as a zenithal highlight.

Step 2 - Base coats and highlights

I painted the base coats and highlights as part of the same process so I cover these by area below.

Beetle Shell

The main body of the beetle was airbrushed with Incubi Darkness. I highlighted specific places with Sotek Green. I then used Naggaroth Night to pick out out some of the areas which I wanted to have a purple tone. These were mainly on the lower facing shell surfaces. To highlight the upper sections of shell I edge highlighted the bits I wanted to pick out with Kabalite Green > Sotek Green > Temple Guard Blue. The lower sections of shell were highlighted with Xereus Purple > Genestealer Purple.

Soft Underside

The soft underside at the rear of the beetle was painted Daemonette Hide (by brush) and airbrush highlighted with Warpfiend Grey > Slaanesh Grey.

Claws

These were painted with Celetra Grey and highlighted with Ulthuan Grey and White Scar. For the larger claws, the highlights were applied with the airbrush, as opposed to the brush for the small claws and mouth horn things!

Gems

The gems hanging from the beetle were based with Thousand Sons Blue and highlighted Temple Guard Blue and Baharroth Blue.

Rope

The rope attached to the hanging gems was based Mechanicus Standard Grey and highlighted Dawnstone and Adminitratum Grey.

Foliage

The bark was painted with Dryad Bark and highlighted with Gorthor Brown and Screaming Skull. The leaves and moss were based Caliban Green and highlighted with Loren Forest and Elysian Green. The green areas were then hit with a glaze of Lamenters Yellow.

Fungus/Mushrooms!
Khorne Red, highlighted with Squig Orange and Kislev Flesh

Step 3 - Gloss Varnish
Quite a quick step this one... I airbrushed a good couple of coats of Vallejo Gloss Varnish over the model. This acts to protect the paintwork underneath but also prepare the model for the next step, shading.

Step 4 - Shading
My original plan was to apply shading to matte the whole model back down, however, I discovered that the beetle looked great with the gloss varnish. So, I applied the shade in a more targeted fashion.

Soft Underside
I applied a mix of Army Painter Dark Tone/Army Painter Shade Mixing Medium 1/4 ratio across the while underside. I then changed the shade ration to more like 1/1 Dark Tone/Mixing Medium and applied this in the deepest recesses.

Claws/Rope
The claws were shaded with a 1/1 mix of  Army Painter Dark Tone/Army Painter Shade Mixing Medium

Foliage
The foliage was shaded 1/1 mix of  Army Painter Strong Tone/Army Painter Shade Mixing Medium

Gold Details
The gold detail was shaded 1/1 mix of  Army Painter Soft Tone/Army Painter Shade Mixing Medium

Final Steps and Conclusion

After the shade had dried, I glued pieces of slate to some of the feet of the beetles in preparation for how it will sit on the base.

In conclusion, I found this model quite a challenge to paint. I didn't go far enough splitting the model down to subassemblies and so found painting some areas very challenging. It's a great model and I'm reasonably happy with how it turned out. If I can follow this up with a good paint job on Alarielle and the base then it should be a good focal point for my army.

Next up, the base!