After the break, I'll discuss how I painted this crew in a little under 1hr 40mins from brush up to brush down (yes, I've actually started timing them).
In most projects, I like to get creative and come up with unique colour schemes and backstories for my collections (see my Skaven and Beastmen for examples) but due to the character and plot-driven nature of Malifaux I try to get creative in a different manner, by trying to emulate the artwork and box-art colour scheme as closely as possible.
This provided a couple of unique challenges with this particular crew, namely Tara's sword and the nothingness of the Void Wretches and Nothing Beast. Whilst I'll mention the colours and techniques used on the other models and areas briefly, I'll mainly go into depth on those two areas.
It's worth noting that all the models received a coat of Citadel's 'Chaos Black' primer spray to get them ready for painting. It should also be mentioned that I didn't paint the models stage by stage, one at a time, instead doing stages across all the models at once (ie, basecoating all the Void Wretches and Nothing Beast as I drybrushed Karina, or painting Tara at the same time as Karina's boots etc - this really speeds things up).
First up, Karina. She's a rogue necromancer and the one who brought Tara back from the dead after a bullet went straight through her chest. In the artwork, she's wearing a kind of early 1900's traditional dress with a tie-back and big riding boots.
The entire model was coated with a 50:50 mix of Citadel Rakarth Flesh and Citadel Steel Legion Drab. The flesh areas were then coated with Citadel Bugman's Glow, and the boots in Citadel Dryad Bark. Finally, her hair was blocked in with Army Painter Matt Black, her gun with Army Painter Gun Metal and her glove in Army Painter Uniform Grey.
Once this Basecoat was finished, the entire model was given a thick brown wash. I genuinely don't remember if this was Army Painter Strong Tone or Citadel Agrax Earthshade, but in honesty, I can never really tell much of a difference.
Once this had dried thoroughly, Karina was given a drybrush of Citadel Rakarth Flesh all over her clothing, and a 50:50 mix of C Rakarth Flesh and C Bugman's Glow was layered onto her face. Finally, the entire model was washed with the brown wash again.
Finally, the gun was given a touch-wash of AP Dark Tone (though C Nuln Oil would work just as well), the flesh gently layered with AP Barbarian Flesh, and the glove lightly highlighted with AP Ash Grey.
Now, on to Tara. Her clothes were painted in C Dryad Bark, the metal parts of her sword were painted in AP Gun Metal, and her flesh was painted in C Rakarth Flesh. Her mutated hand was then painted in C Castellan Green. The entire model was washed in a brown shade (C Agrax Earthshade or AP Strong Tone) with care to stroke upwards on Tara's face so that it would pool nicely in her eye sockets. I actually made sure to wash her clothes twice.
Her clothing was highlighted with a thinned 50:50 mix of C Dryad Bark and C Steel Legion Drab, then washed again with the brown.
But what about her sword? Actually, it was surprisingly easy. I carefully edge highlighted most of the sword with C Caliban Green, then mixed in some AP Greenskin until a 50:50 mix was achieved, and edge highlighted again, but only towards the tips and jagged edges. I then mixed this mix with C Rakarth Flesh into a 50:50 of C Rakarth Flesh and Previous Mix, hen highlighted just the tips. Finally, I added an equal amount of C White Scar so that it was 50:50 White Scar to Mix and highlighted just the tips. The sword was then coated in Citadel 'Ardcoat to give it a gloss finish.
Similarly, the Void Wretches and Nothing Beast were very simple, if a little time consuming. The entire model was coated in C Rakarth Flesh (some might use a white primer for this, but I couldn't be bothered separating the models, and Rakarth goes over black absolutely fine) then washed with C Biel-Tan Green (though AP Green Tone would again be fine).
Once this had dried, the entire model was drybrushed with C Rakarth Flesh again (with a really dry brush), then with a C Rakarth Flesh - C White Scar 50:50 mix. Finally, I made a 50:50 mix of AP Green Tone and AP Blue Tone, then thinned it down with C Lahmean Medium until the mix was translucent (about five parts Medium to one part mix) then glazed the models with it, ensuring the really paint it into the grooves.
The eyes were then painted C Caledor Sky, which I then layered repeatedly by mixing in increasing amounts of C White Scar.
The models bases had been coated in sand prior to priming (as I find this helps seal in the sand) then were painted with a thinned C Dryad Bark, drybrushed C Steel Legion Drab, drybrushed C Rakarth Flesh (I went through a lot of Rakarth...) and finally topped with Army Painter Wasteland Tufts, and the rim painted with AP Matt Black.
And that's it. That's really all there was to it, it was so simple and quick. Waiting for the turquoise glaze on the Void Wretches and Nothing Beast to dry so I could do the eyes was what took the most time. Not including wash and thinned base drying times, the models would have taken only a little over an hour. Speed painting is easy, it just takes practice and clever knowledge of when to paint what. Don't try and speed paint, would be my suggestion. Learn the quick techniques, and through practice you will get faster and faster.
Most of the techniques I use were developed when I worked for Games Workshop, when I would have to paint models for the intro tables and cabinets constantly and quickly (the entire Dark a Angels half of Dark Vengeance was built and painted in under two hours, as an example). Honestly, anyone can do it, it just takes a bit of practice.
Give it a go, and let me know how you get on! As always, I love receiving your comments and feedback, either in the comments section below, or on Twitter at @BKellyCS or @StormFrontPaint
Herald of Obliteration
Nightmare Edition
Translucent Version
This was the commission I painted Tara and Karina for, and based the Void Wretches to match. Naturally, as the Nothing Beast covers its entire base and didn't require painting, I wasn't sent it, so it is sadly absent from this photograph.
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