Alternative Plaguebearer Scheme

[Kaika87]

EDIT: My apologies, I didn't think the pictures would be so obtrustive in the B&C post.  Changed all embedded pictures to links.  Sorry!

 

So I've been going to B&C for a couple years now, getting painting advice, army list/tactics help, and even emergency modelling situations.  I figured it was high time I give something back, and I have managed to fool myself into being confident enough to try a painting tutorial of a reddish-purple color scheme I devised (mostly) for my plague bearers instead of the typical green.  All credit for the sword color scheme goes to Beamo, though I will repost his modified steps for completeness.

This tutorial ended up being much longer than I anticipated, so the whole thing will also be over on my blog with better (?) formatting.  That said, I didn't want to make this a post to just redirect to my blog, so the tutorial so far will follow below.  The finished product looks like this:

Final - Front

Final - Back

 

The paints I used are these (mostly GW with two exceptions):

Used on the whole model:
--P3 White Primer
--Agrax Earthshade

Organic parts:
--Druiichi Violet
--Rakarth Flesh
--Ceramite White
--Khorne Red
--Averland Sunset
--Cadian Fleshtone
--Carroburg Crimson
--Reaper Grey Liner (OR Abbadon Black & Mechanicus Grey)
--Ushabti Bone
--Seraphim Sepia
--Abbadon Black
--Seraphim Sepia
--Gloss Varnish (optional, but recommended)

Swords:
--Warplock Bronze
--Hashut Copper
--Bien-Tal Green
--Loren Forest
--Temple Guard Blue

I hope you enjoy the tutorial, and any feedback would be immensely appreciated, as I have never written a full-model painting tutorial before.

 

Step 1 - Prime & Basecoat

I started off by priming the models white, and then basing with Rakarth Flesh.  I was trying for a more pale, sickly flesh color, so white primer made this easier.  Ordinarily I'm not particularly picky about the paints I use, but the P3 white spray primer is wonderfully forgiving about the distance that you hold it from the model.  I have given a few models in the past a "fuzzy" coat with GW white spray.  I left the sword, horns, and toe-claws alone when basing the model.  I'll come back to those later.

 

Step 2 - Skin Wash

I then washed all of the areas covered by the basecoat with a 50/50 mixture of Agrax Earthshade and Druiichi Violet.  You don't want to wash the model too heavily, but be generous and make sure it doesn't pool too thickly in the recesses.

Wash - Front only

I actually put a bit too much wash on this model, but this is still workable.  You definitely do not want to go any darker than this.  And yes, this is also the first WIP picture of the tutorial.  I apologize for this gap, as I had already started assembly-line painting the squad by the time I decided to do this, so no pictures for Step 1.  The sword is also based already in this picture.  Don't worry about that for now, we'll cover the swords in part 2.

 

Step 3 - Skin Highlights

Next, I began a highlight of Rakarth Flesh.  With both of my highlighting layers, you can largely ignore the bulging sores, since we'll be coming back to those with a different coloring.  But if you want to save time, go ahead and highlight them with the rest of the flesh areas.

First Highlight - Front
First Highlight - Back

Then comes a second-layer highlight of 50/50 Rakarth Flesh and Ceramite White to the highest raised areas, like the knuckles and cheekbones.   Also be sure to add some to the smooth areas of the model, like the skin around the back, top of the head, and the arm muscles.

Second Hightlight - Front Only

 

Step 4 - Wounds & Guts

Now for the fun part.  Nurgle is supposed to look disgusting, and nothing sells that more than having open wounds and sores all over the model.  I started by painting the exposed innards with Khorne Red.  Additionally, using a small brush, I drybrushed the edges of all of the wounds in khorne red.  If you have an airbrush, you can use that as an alternative, but don't go too far from the wound itself.  This isn't a glow effect, it's meant to sell the look that these wounds are infected, so just a little red around the edges that fades into the rest of the skin.

Guts Base - Front
Guts Base - Back

 

Step 5 - Detailing Wounds & Guts

Next I took a fine-tipped brush and dabbed a little bit of Averland Sunset into each of the larger wounds.  This dark yellow color helps to convey the sense that these wounds are horribly infected.  That said, avoid adding the yellow to the smaller wounds.  For any wounds with exposed bone, like the ribs on the back of this model, you can add a streak of Ushabti Bone within the Sunset highlight.  Also, paint streaks of Sunset at the bends of the exposed intenstines, the same way you would if you were highlighting them.  Trust me.

Guts Highlighting - Front
Guts Highlighting - Back

Now, we're going to go over all of the wounds with a heavy wash of Carroburg Crimson.  You can even be a bit sloppy with this and get some of the wash along the edges of the wound, blending with your drybrush.  After the wash dries, take a tiny bit of Averland Sunset and add it to the highest edges of the wounds.  Leave the intestines and guts alone, however.

Guts Wash - Front
Guts Wash - Back

Finally, take a bit of gloss varnish and apply a light coat to some of the wounds.  Technically, I would call this an optional step, but it's very simple and quick to do, and for me it adds a lovely extra bit of gross-out if the open sores and dangling guts look slimy and wet.

Guts Gloss - Front Only

Step 6 - Sores/Pimples

Now for the sores.  Like the gloss, this step is optional and can be a bit tedious if you're painting hordes of these guys, but if you want to go the extra mile, here's how.  First, paint each sore with Cadian Fleshtone.  Don't worry if some of the paint goes outside the lines, so to speak.  We'll be covering that up soon.

 

Sores Base - Front

Sores Base - Back

Next is the trickier part.  Carefully dab a bit of Carroburg Crimson wash onto each sore, just enough so that it forms a ring at the base of each sore.

Sores Wash - Front

Sores Wash - Back

Finally, put a tiny dot of Rakarth Flesh at the top to round out the wonderfully disgusting look.

Sores Highlight - Front

Sores Highlight - Back

 
Part 7 - Horn, Eyes, Teeth

For the horn and toe-claws, I used a Reaper paint that is a favorite of mine called Grey Liner.  It's a very dark, not-quite-black grey color, and I use it for any parts of a model that are textured, but I want to pain them black, such as ribbed cables on Space Marine backpacks. The off-black works here as well because it helps with the wash we'll use to blend it into the model.  If you want to use GW colors, mixing 50/50 Abbadon Black with Mechanicus Grey should get you in the right neighborhood.  Paint the toes and horns with this color, like so:

Horn Base

Then, wash them with Agrax Earthshade, using your brush to blend the wash down from the grey into the flesh.  The end result should look something like this:

Horn Wash

For the teeth, I painted them Ushabti Bone and washed with Seraphim Sepia, trying to get the color of unhealthy teeth.

Teeth Base

Teeth Wash

Finally, the eyes.  It's really up to you,  but I did mine with yellow eyes.   Carefully paint the eyeball Averland sunset, then add a tiny slit of black for an unnatural pupil.  Wash with Sepia to add a little depth (and hide any mistakes)

Eye

For the last bit, we'll finish off the model by painting the sword with a verdigris bronze effect, mostly because I wanted to go outside the norm, like I did for the plaguebearers themselves.  It's worth mentioning as well that, unlike my previous tutorial, this one was adapted from the rusted bronze tutorial of Beamo from BoLS fame, so credit goes to him for the original method, which you can find here.

 

Part 8 - Swords

Now, in all my previous pictures, you might have noticed that the swords were basecoated already.  Again, for the same reason that there weren't any pictures until technically step 2, I had already mass-produced the basics of the paint scheme on my plaguebearers.  Unlike last time, however, this is essentially step 1.  Give the swords a nice, even coat of 50/50 Warplock Bronze and Hashut Copper to get this metallic copper color you have seen throughout this tutorial, and then wash the blade with Agrax Earthshade.

 

Swords Wash 1

After that dries,  wash it again with Bien-Tal Green

 

Swords Wash 2

Water down some Loren Forest, 4:1 at least, in order to make your own wash.  You may have to add more water.  Wash the sword with this, thoroughly.

 

Swords Wash 3

If you were going to use this method for several models at once, make sure you wash all of the metallics with the Loren Forest wash before proceeding.  Continuing on, we're going to change our wash.  Add a little bit of Temple Guard Blue to the mix.  Stir this up well and now wash the sword again, this time sticking more to the recesses.

 

Swords Wash 4

Finally, drybrush or highlight the sword with Hashut Copper.  This part depends entirely on your preference for how rusted you want the swords to look.  I used a bit of a heavier drybrush on this guy.

Final Model

And there you have it!  A finished plaguebearer, completely forgoing the standard GW green while still looking hideous.  I didn't give a whole lot of attention to the maggots at his feet, just a coat of Screaming Skull and then a wash of Nuln Oil.  I hope you found this tutorial useful, and I would sincerely appreciate any feedback.

[Kaika87]

Updated with the second half.

[disease]

this is great, exactly how I wanted to do mine!