Painting a Skaven Rat Swarm...

*Say hello to my little friends!*

From Skaven

Ah, Skaven Rat Swarms.
Could there be a more Skaven-like unit to have in your army? Just the idea of using swarms of these guys is cool...
...The good: 
- Small (so you can shoot over them.)
- Unbreakable (as a swarm, so they have a chance of holding up your opponent.)
- Fast (Move 6 inches.)
- x5 Attacks per base.
-They don't count towards the number of core units you can have.
Reading around the internest, it seems other warlords use our furry friends to guard key vulnerable units (such as Jezzails) or the flanks of advancing blocks of infantry as they advance.

 ...The Bad:
- Not "Expendable" (as in previous editions) so they can cause panic in other units when they flee?

...The Ugly:
- Expensive models to buy!  

...and yeah, they ARE REALLY expensive...would it be a good idea to make some just using the extra rats that turn up on many of the Plague Monk sprues?

Got to tell you, this is one unit that I am really, really looking forward to using on the battlefield (IF I ever get my army finished...) so it was one of the first units that I thought I would try to paint up. After giving the Warp Lightning Cannon a try I got these guys (and gals?) out of their blister pack and lined them up on their bases - a lot of lead in there!

So, after a bit of messing around, how did the unit turn out?

From Skaven

From Skaven

 Here are the steps and colours I used:

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.

Step 1: Add sand to the base by putting PVA glue on the base and then dipping in modelling sand.
Step 2: Basecoat (Chaos Black.)
Step 3: Drybrush (Fur, mud).
- Calthan Brown on most rats
- Bestial Brown on a few rats
- Codex Gray on one or two rats
- Calthan Brown on ground.
Step 4: Paint (Skin/ Tails/ Skulls)
- Tallarn Flesh for skin, tails.
- Skull White for skulls.
Step 5: Wash
- Devlan Mud all over (including skulls)
Step 6: Final drybrushing.
- Snakebite leather (some rats)
- Fortress Gray (on the Codex gray rats...)
- Slightly lightened Tallarn flesh on noses and tails etc.
- Lightened Calthan Brown on the base.
Step 7: Final basing.
- Add dabs of PVA glue to the base.
- Dip in green flock/ add electrostatic grass.

FINISHED! 

Errr...I guess this actually took a lot more steps and time than I thought, but nevermind! I won't be doing too many of these. (At least at first!) The unit size can be 2-10 bases, and I only have 4 in total at the moment...

...I'm wondering how many of these little guys more experienced Skaven Warlords take?

*Forward, little brothers - forward for the greatness of the Horned One!*