Thursday, May 25, 2023

Classic Hunter Screamer Lives!

 



Primed to scream and shout.. 

With the announcement of Warhammer 40,000  10th edition, we were shown some of the new models. One of the most impressive models that stood out from the rest was the new Hunter Screamer which was inspired by the original Rogue Trader era model. This got me thinking about that original model (nostalgicly) and lamenting that I never built or painted mine (which I won as a door prize for an event at a comic shop in Bristol VA* way back 1994). 

Original paint scheme from White Dwarf 145. **

As I mentioned back when I built my Deathwatch Venerable Dreadnought, I have a bunch of resin bits that a friend,  who was experimenting with resign casting,  gave to me a few decades ago.  It turns out that I had enough scraps to build one of these guys. Which is great as I hesitate to build that old metal kit until I have figured out a paint scheme for him. This knock-off will be a good experiment for that as I won't be too frustrated or fussed if I screw it up.

Basecoats.

 For the most part I stuck with the color scheme that I used on my Genestealers, but if you look at this old model (and some of the nid models that followed it) there are some area of the models that look sinewy and have the appearance of exposed muscle.  It seemed to me that a third color needed to be explored to distinguish this different aspect of the model. So I stuck with the  Indian Red base and added Screamer Pink with a layer of Pink Horror. I toned that down with a glaze of Carroburg Crimson.

Mid coats.

That gave those areas a nice "meaty" kind of look huh? At this point I was considering putting some 'ard Coat over it for a more gristle-like vibe. 



With such a bigger model it made sense to me add some additional colors for sake of depth. One the purple areas I added a highlight of
And on the blue areas I used Calgary Blue.


The claws were saved for last. Even the original 'Eavy Metal painters, who were the first people to ever paint these models, wanted to paint them in a red color. That look made one think of lobsters of crabs, although fine, just wasn't coming to work with my colors. So I decided to go with a subtle purple highlight on a mostly black area. I used Xereus Purple for this (which, to my amusement, is a close match to that old Worm Purple paint) with a glaze of Druchii Violet, an edge highlight of  Genestealer Purple
followed by another glaze of Druchii Violet. The claws looked great while the wash was wet and I decided to keep that look so I capped it off with a a layer of 'Ard Coat. Remember I thought that might look good earlier and I was glad I trusted my intuition on this one. 


The 'Ard Coat on the meaty bitz really worked out I think.  It gives a complimentary differentiation without clashing or blending in with the other colors. 


I used Scorpion Green, Yreil Yellow and Tesseract Glow on the plasma glows on his torso and in it's mouth. I wanted them to stand out without being overwhelming and I think it worked. 


I added a few stray grass tufts to the base and it was done. 

Grass added.


Done and really for the fun! 

I took it outside for some natural lighting shots but it was noon and the shadows were far too intense on my front steps. 

Nothing to devour here...

So I took into the woods and didn't get much better results, but it was fun to try it. 



*or TN. I forget which side of the street that original location was on. 
"I will devour this place!!!"


** Image Copyright Games Workshop, used here for review purposes, no challenge intended. 

5 comments:

Da Masta Cheef said...

Wait, you painted a WHOLE model in 1 post? Have you been hacked or something?

Looks good, and definitely a nostalgia piece. I painted one of these years ago. When I fish moved here, there was a hobby shop that I got a Lehman Russ for $10 off of their discount shelf. It was on the TN side, but within spitting distance of the VA side.

Da Masta Cheef said...

*first moved here…

neverness said...

(Must have been a U-haul fish)

Yeah, knocked it out in one post, but I haven't been posting weekly like I prefer either due to limited hobby time and art tasks. I was just really motivated by this model. It was a joy to paint.

neverness said...

Thanks Suber, coming from you that is a supreme compliment!

DAM said...

Very cool to see this classic get some paint. Looks super!