I really love the model for Kurdoss Valentian and how he fits into the lore of the Nighthaunts and have finally found the time to paint him up. This guy, along with Olynder, and the Black Coach are true centerpiece models for the army.
I have actually had Kurdoss built and primed now for about half a year. I had originally intended to have him done in time to take to Adepticon, but the Daughters of Khaine project took a bit longer than I anticipated, so I ended up bumping him till later. I could have rushed it, but I really wanted to take my time on this guy. When I put him together I glued him into a few subassemblies for ease of painting. The main parts were Kurdoss' whole body, his head (so I could spray it black instead of white), the Throne with the right armrest and Wraith attached, and the left armrest and Wraith. This way I could paint Kurdoss on his own, then move onto the throne. Not only does it make it easier to paint, but it helps break the model up into more manageable sections. I can get a nice sense of completion from finishing Kurdoss before working on the throne. I left the one armrest and Wraith (the wraiths are molded onto the armrests) off the throne so I could have an easier time of painting the ghostly wisps trailing off of the throne as well as the banner, which is glued to the side of the throne once it's all done.
I decided to start off with Kurdoss' main body and head, since he's the most exciting part of the model to me. I painted him more or less following the
guide I made for the Black Coach. I definitely put more time into blending though, and would go back and forth with my main color, a Ulthuan/Oxide mix, and the Oxide/Lahmian Medium shade until I was happy with how it looked. This meant a lot of glazing to get more subtle transitions. I also did it a bit out of order, tidying up with the base mix before going back in with the Greenshade to darken certain shadows. This way I was more certain about how much contrast I needed before going too dark. I painted the head and weapon at the same time and just used all the techniques from the Coach tutorial for them, same with the metallics.
When it was time to move onto the throne I was at a bit of a crossroads. I wasn't 100% sure on what color I wanted to paint it. The studio version is grey, which would look good with the ghostly parts, but would just blend into my basing. In the end I decided to do a slightly modified version of how I've been painting the gravestones on some of their bases and the scenery on the display board. I liked the look I had achieved, but wanted it to be a bit cleaner and colder. I basecoated it with Incubi Darkness, and then washed diluted Abaddon Black directly into the recesses. I then tidied it back up with Incubi Darkness where needed. For the highlights I mixed Ulthuan Grey into the basecoat, doing two levels of highlights, with a little more Ulthuan mixed into each one, before hitting the most prominent areas, such as corners, with pure Ulthuan Grey. This helped tie it into my more monochrome color scheme, kept it cleaner (no weathering), and gave it a bit of an otherworldly feel.
The areas where the throne turns into ghostly wisps was a bit of a challenge as well. I kind of figured out what I was going to do as I painted it. At its most basic I took some Incubi Darkness on my palette and some of the Ulthuan/Oxide mix and just went to town blending. I did some of it on my palette before painting it onto the model, but I also did a lot while it was still wet on the model. Basically I had the two pools of paint right next to each other on the palette and just went back and forth with them. This was finished off with some glazing of thinned down Incubi Darkness over areas of it, and then tidying up the ghostly areas in other spots.
Since this process involves you to be very active while you paint because you can't let any of it dry while working, I did each area on its own to completion. First I did the right side, then the back. Once both of those were done and after the banner was done (will get to that in a moment) I glued the left armrest on, filled the gap with greenstuff, re-basecoated the area, then blended that side as well.
The banner was basecoated with a mix of Xereus Purple and Abaddon Black (mostly because I forgot I had used Nagarroth Night as the basecoat everywhere else I did purple in my army), and then blended up to almost pure Xereus Purple. I then did some harsher lines with pure Xereus Purple, as well as the edge, before finishing up with Dechalla Purple on the most prominent areas. The ghostly wisps on the tail end of the banner were painted in the same manner as the rest of the ghostly parts, and then blended into the purple in the same way I did the blending on the throne.
The next crossroads I came to was the symbol on his banner. I had originally thought about painting it gold, but thought that might distract from my army's color scheme too much. In the end I tested out painting one side of it in the ghostly colors and decided I liked it. I like to imagine that Kurdoss' symbol writhes with a life of its own and is actually a ghostly mirage of sorts. With that done I finished off the metallics and black on the two wraiths, glued Kurdoss into his seat, and based up the model.
I'm really happy with how he turned out. I think he fits into my army pretty nicely, and now Lady Olynder has her "true love" to keep her company. What a happy couple. With these two done it leaves only Reiknor the Grimhailer to paint up for the Nighthaunt named characters. He is sitting assembled in my hobby room right now. I'll definitely be taking both Kurdoss and Olynder to my next event, even if it's not the most optimal list. I just need to field the pair on the tabletop at the same time, at least once.
Until next time,
Tyler M.
No comments:
Post a Comment