AOS Square-Based Skeletons (Part 2)

 ...and they are done! 

A view of the command group.

Continuing on from last time I managed to get the whole unit of 20 completed. And I am quite pleased with how they turned out. 

The whole rabble.

I repeated this process 19 times: I edged highlighted the cloth scraps using Fenrisian Grey and washed over that with Drakenhof Nightshade. Then I kind of drybrushed the metals using Canoptek Alloy over the Gor Grunter Fur base coat.  

A view of one of the ranks. 

The banner (see the first pic) proved tricky as I had attempted to use a decal on it. But it was so old that it disintegrated when I tried to apply it. Then I attempted to hand paint an icon (the folks at Den of Imagination makes it look so easy!). But I was not happy with those results either. In the end I just decided to leave it black. This way I can just say it represents whatever banner suits me at the time. 

The undead gather

And with that, here they are gathered with the rest of their fellow Undead ilk. I am really enjoying this project and I hope you are as well! 

AoS Square-based Skeletons (Part 1)

 

After I finished the Black Coach for my Vampire Counts and gathered the whole (painted) army together to look upon my progress so far, it became apparent that I needed more Core units to support this army. Enter Skeleton Horde #2. This unit was part of the AOS Soulblight Gravelords Vanguard set that I recently picked up. Unlike Skelly Horde #1, these fellas are better proportioned, better armored, and look bad-ass. After getting them on to 25mm square bases and playing around with ranking them up, I am confident they'll work out just fine in the game. 

Assembled and gritted.

And yet, that older style of Skeleton Warrior isn't without it's charm. I have enough left over to assemble another unit (Skeleton Horde #3 will have Hand Weapons and Shields). Oh and those really old ones I posted about awhile back will likely be joining these guys as well.  Just for kicks, I thought I would take some of the leftover  bitz from this new kit and see how well they would work on the older ones. 

...and I think it works well! 

Anyway, I painted these things almost entirely using Contrast Paints. All of the cloth areas were painted using Black Templar. The spear shafts were painted with Baal Red. All the leather bits, straps and sheaths, were painted with Snakebite Leather. The bulk of the models are the armor and Spearheads which were all painted with Gore-Grunter Fur which makes a great base for rusted metal. 

Basecoats with Contrast Paint.

I wasn't so sure about this direction, so I decided to take a single Skeleton Warrior up to a nearly finished state. I edged highlighted the cloth scraps using Fenrisian Grey and washed over that with Drakenhof Nightshade. Then I kind of drybrushed the metals using Canoptek Alloy. 

One guy mostly done.

And dang! -I am very pleased with these results. Now I have 19 more to go...

An undead mass.

Walking Bones with Spears

 What's an undead army without skeletons? * Well, here are my first batch of 15 skeleton warriors ready to spear your fodder.

Primed.

After priming these guys with the appropriately named Wraithbone spray paint I next painted all of the bone areas using Skeleton Horde Contrast Paint.  

Skeleton Horde base.

Next, I decided (pretty much on a random whim) to paint all of their spears red. I guess the '90s nostalgia vibe from the box photos was far too potent to resist? After I paint the first one I knew that this was the right choice. 

Red spears for that '90s vibe. 

Then I added layers  to all of the bones using Screaming Skull followed by Wraithbone. 

Screaming Skull and Wraithbone.

Touched up.

I decided I wanted to give these guys glowing eyes in the same color as the spirit hosts that I painted recently. I figured that the color would help tie the units together a bit more.  But when I got down to it, I really liked them the way they were. So I compromised and added a subtle glow around the bottom or the edge of their empty eye-sockets. Some of their eyes have a rotten eyeball in them and these I painted with the Briar Queen Chill paint as well. 

Subtle glowy eyes.

After I added the grass tufts to some of these models I felt they could use a subtle highlight of White Scar.  

White Scar highlights. 

And with that it's a wrap. Oh, and I want to mention the model in this next pic, the one in the foreground to the left: 

Beastman skull headed guy to the left. 

His head is from the Skulls boxed set. There is a variety of beastman skulls in that set and I decided to stick on one of these skeletons after getting frustrated with attaching the horns to the beastman skull that comes with this set. I think it worked out good in the end. 

*Lame! The answer is LAME!!!

40 year old Skeletons rise again (Part 1)

 Way back in 1985, Christmas Day specifically, I got my first two blister packs of Citadel Miniatures. One pack was a unit of human Archers and the 2nd pack contained skeleton warriors. As much as I was fascinated with these miniatures I didn't know what do with them. I had no idea how to use them in a game or even how to paint them. In fact the prospect of painting these guys was a very daunting thing for me to comprehend  back in the '80s.  So I held on to them. Over the years they have been used in D&D games. But now finally,  almost 40 years later, I will use them for Warhammer. Warhammer: The Old World particularly.  The skeleton warriors  will get this treatment first. 

For hand sculpted single piece miniatures cast in lead they are surprisingly dynamic. Take this first guy with the pointed helm. He is slogging forward in a purposeful stride with an intent to kill. 

And although the shield is a simple disc, it was perfectly suited for painting in whatever style one could come up with and it could take a decal with ease. 

This next one is a rare one in that he has a mace. Maces, particularly in this style, are the rarer option among the millions of fantasy miniature that ha e been produced over the decades. Most often if you wee a model or miniature with a mace it's either a cleric or a Dwarf wielding it. 

Oh, and he has an even pointier hat. 

My favorite one if the lot is this guy with the devil horns. I love the way his shield and blade are set.  It is such an awesome pose, and it odd that I don't recall seeing this pose used on another model. 

He has a  mold line going right down the middle idle of that shield which used to be worse but I filed it down at some point. In fact, I remember these guys had quite a bit of flash on them I had to take off.  

This next guy is going for the "I am death" cosplay award and he does achieve that goal spectacularly. I love that he has a Tim The Enchanter helm also. Sadly, his sythe proved to be too fragile and, somewhere along the way of this 40 year journey, the blade broke off. 

As you might have noticed by now, these guys are pre_slotta baseand have their bases molded to them. "Pudding bases" is one thing ainhave heard them called. Oddly, the word SKELETON is stamped on the front of these bases. I assume the sculptors of this time felt the need to dispense with any potential ambiguity that their creations might convey to those new to hobby. It's a trend I am glad didn't catch on. 

That's a damn fine cloak. 

Originally I was going to use a scythe blade from a spare Heroquest skeleton but I never felt good about making that sacrifice. Recently I discovered I hade a scythe arm in a bag of plastic skeleton bitz and I decided to attempt to use if for this guy. 

Oh, and in case your curious about the exact age of these guys they all have this stamp on the bottom of their bases: GAMES WORKSHOP 1984. I can't recall the last time I have seen dates on their metal models, but I wish they has kept it practice. 

40 years later, I feel compelled, and confident enough in my painting skills, to finally take a stab at painting these guys up. The first thing to do was stick them to a 25 X 25mm base. 

Next, I will use greenstuff on their bases to blend in their pudding bases. But we'll save that for part 2 of this Saga.