New Clanrats Unit - FINISHED!

*Squeek*

OK, so I thought at stage 7 I had got these good enough to go on the battlefield, but of course that is never the case. So, having a little bit of time I thought I would add a few details to see if I couldn't bring the overall level of the unit up and try a few new things.

• Added Tallarn Flesh/ Dwarf Flesh 50/50 mix highlights to all the ears and most of the faces (and some of the arms and hands.)
• Added Solar Macharius Orange rust throughout the unit's weapons.
• Spent some time on the unit banner and painted it Codex Grey with layered grey highlights to add some depth.
• Focused a little bit on the command group and added a few details such as Shining Gold highlights onto Dwarf Bronze bits and Snakebite leather highlights to belts etc.
• Added grass/ flock to 75% of the bases of the unit.
• Added Skaven symbols in the main army colour (Ice Blue) to some shields.

So here we are - another unit of 40 Clanrats to add to Squeek's Warlord Clan. That brings me up to 120 Clanrats now. You will find a few pics below. 

I will post a step-by-step guide for these Island of Blood Clanrats (as opposed to "4th Generation" Clanrats) over the next week or so. In the meantime all constructive criticism welcome - let me know what you think.

Added army colour (Ice Blue) symbols on some shields.

Clanrat detail. Added rust to armour and sword.

Clanrat detail. Added rust to armour and sword.

The "business end".

*Squeek*

Skaven Army Update: January 2011

*Squeek*

Here we are, January 2011, with lots of Skaven left to paint! I thought I would take a few moments to look at how far I have come along with this army since April 24th 2010, the date my first box of Skaven arrived, including a Skaven Battalion.

So where are we now?

The boxes arrive. April 24th 2010. Little did I know...

...that I would have so much painting to do!
The original order - assembled.

Grey Seer.

Warlord (with back-banner.)

Chieftain (Battle Standard Bearer)

Chieftain (detail)

"Tetanus" Tweak Vilekin - Warlock Engineer.

 Creak "Boom Boom" Vilekin - Warlock Engineer
(and Tweak's twin...)

Clanrat Unit 1 (x40)

Clanrat Unit 2 (x40)

Skaven Slave Unit 1 (x30) -another 30 underway...
...and yeah, the bases aren't finished!

Warpfire Thrower and Poisoned Wind Mortar crews.

Warpfire Thrower Team 2.

Giant Rats x12 with Pack Master.
x2 Ratswarms (2 bases each.)

Rat Ogres x2 (With Packmasters)

Plague Priest

Plague Monks (x30)

Warplock Jezzails (x1 team)

Warp Lightning Cannon x1

Doomwheel x1

Put that all together and there is probably around 2,000 points of Skaven (if adding in equipment choices, magic items etc.)

Still to do...

x1 Plague Furnace/ Doom Bell and Grey Seer

x1 Clanrat unit (x40, Island of Blood)

x1 Skaven Slaves unit (x30)

x1 Stormvermin Unit (x20)

More Rat Ogres (x4, Island of Blood)

x1 Plague Monk Unit (x20)

Plague Censer Bearers (x10 converted plastic Plague Monk models)

...and I still have to put up a step-by-step guide for the Warlord.

(Sigh) as the man things say:

NO REST FOR THE WICKED!

AHAAHAHAHAHAHA!

*Squeek*

Skaven Clanrat Painting

Following my post yesterday of my first 15 Clanrats, I thought I would post a few more pictures and some specifics on the process I used.

First, the finished product. 

This is a fairly typical example of  an assembled 4th generation Clanrat model. (See here for my feelings about these older models...). I would say that this is what people would call "Tabletop" quality - so it looks fine on the gaming table but deliberately hasn't had lots of detail or attention that would make it good enough to enter a painting competition. (Of course, I don't know how to do that well enough anyway! haha!)

EDIT: Following the launch of the latest Citadel Paint range in 2012, please note that the colours listed below are from the previous range. I hope to have time to rewrite in the future, but for the time being, you can use the conversion chart/ list I made here or use the official Citadel Conversion chart here.

The  process followed was:

A.) Undercoat and layering:

1. After assembly, liberally apply PVA glue to base and dip in modelling sand.
2. Wait until dry, then undercoat. (I use Chaos Black spraypaint.)
3. Fur: Drybrush Calthan Brown.
4. Skin/ Tail/ Feet: Tallarn Flesh.
5. Cloth: Ice Blue.
6. Metal: Boltgun metal. (Weapons, belt buckle)
7. Leathers: Snakebite leather. (Belt, wristband, armour crosspiece on the back of the Clanrat.)

B.) Apply Washes: Liberally apply Devlan Mud Wash all over.

C.) Reapply base colours: Layered up lighter shades/ colours: 

1. Skin/ Tail/ Feet: Dwarf Flesh on raised areas. (Being careful to leave some Tallarn flesh areas and the shadows created by the Devlan Mud wash and the black undercoat - especially on the tail.)
2. Cloth: Ice Blue on raised areas of cloth.
3. Leathers: Snakebite leather/ Skull white (50/50 mix). 

D.) Final Drybrushing:

1. Fur: Drybrush Calthan Brown/ Skull White (50/50).
2. Metal: Drybrush Mithril silver (Weapon edges) buttons etc. (e.g. Rivets if the model has a shield etc.) or just apply as an "Extreme Highlight" on the edge of the weapon.
3. Base: Drybrush Calthan brown, then drybrush Tallarn Flesh.

E.) Final Basing:

1. Apply dabs of PVA glue onto the base and dip into green flock.
2. Paint base sides Knarloc Green.

Looking at this model now, some final observations and self-criticism would be:

• I need to pay more attention to the feet. I should really do something with the nails/ toes so that they are visible...but I just hate the feet on these models so much I can't motivate myself to do it. (I'll get around to it sometime.)
• I'm still undecided on the Ice Blue colour. As some people have noted, it is just too bright to really be very "Skavenish". On the other hand, if I like it, who cares? I could try toning it down a bit OR go to another colour.
• Skaven weapons that have rust on them look absolutely great. I haven't tried that yet so the weapons on these Clanrats look too well-cared for, and definitely not from the scavenge pile.
• Could I make the flesh areas stand out even more by using a further highlight or drybrushing of Elf flesh? Would it be worth it?
• Applying the modelling sand BEFORE undercoating is fine, but unfortunately it gets on the feet of the model and makes it harder to paint later. I might go back to applying the modelling sand after finishing the paint job.

Only a hundred more models to go and then I'm done!

;-)