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The next stage of this project was the centerline of items: loincloth, girdle and power cables. I chose to do these as they are recessed and where they are not recessed there is a skull protruding that I would paint later. This decision was made with the ‘pivot points’ of the model the only factor. I had seen how much handling I had to do for the base and just how much primer I wore off due to continuous contact and knew this had to be foremost on my mind from now on.

It actually worked out well since I was able to hit on the various colours associated with each chaos power due to the unfinished black of the body. This lack of competing colours, contrasts and tones allowed me a sense of painting totally independent models. While this could have been disastrous once I connected all the ‘independent areas’ with the silvers and black highlights I just had to trust to my final vision. Had I done these areas last I might not have been so adventurous with my selection of colours.

I needed four different colours for the four different chaos powers and so I chose to use: blue for the loincloth, red and metallic bronze for the belt, purple for the power cables and green for the flesh of the face. In my mind the colours symbolize, in order, Tzeench, Khorne, Slaanesh and Nurgle. While I will not be discussing the face in this part [it is a part all by itself] just keep in mind that that is way it is a sickly green.

I started with the loincloth, likely because it is the most sheltered of all the parts I now set out to do. It is also blue and that is one of my favorite colours to work with. So I started with a base of 70/25/5 Regal Blue [RB]/Imperial Purple [IP]/Chaos Black [CB] so that it would be dark and deep at the same time. As I mentioned earlier I start at the darkest shade and then work up from there as I blend so this was a plenty good base to build from.

With the base applied 3 times for a single solid shade I started to highlight the raised folds of the cloth. For this kind of highlighted blending I follow the same method of blending described in Part II. I apply the next shade to the raised fold of the cloth about half way into the recessed part of the fold. This will allow me to blend up the highlight from the darkest colour in the groove to the lightest colour with a really sharp contrast. While some degree of contrast is desired when doing cloth folding, light does strike into cloth recesses naturally hence the reason for my blending start point.

I wanted to have a sharp transition from the shadow shade to the start of the highlight shades based on the effect I desired. I wanted the sharp contrast because it would make the cloth look more dramatic even if it was a bit unnatural. This is one of those ‘illusions’ of reality that painters use to create effects that are pleasing to the eye. So my first blending shade was 70/30 RB/ Ultramarine Blue [UB], This was repeated 4 times up to the boundary of the shade to give the sharp contrast I wanted. Then I progressed the blend to the top of each fold with the following blend: 30/70 RB/UB, 100% UB, 50/50 UB/ Hideous Blue [HB], 100% HB, 50/45/5 HB/ Skull White [SW], Rotting Flesh [RF] and finally SW at the very top of the ridges in a thin highlight line. These were done more abrupt than most blends to further emphasize the dramatic nature of the cloth I was trying for.

I moved on to the girdle next. Red is one of those colours that either works or doesn’t work for me, depending on the desired effect. So I was pretty nervous when I started the belt. I put down five layers of Scab Red [SR] to get a solid shade of the colur with no black ghosting through. I then immediately started the highlights towards the outer rim of the belt. I did this in all directions as if the light was emanating from the girdle itself. I did the following blending work-up: 70/30 SR/ Red Gore [RG], 50/50 SR/RG, 30/70 SR/RG, 10/84/5/1 SR/RG/Blood Red [BR]/ Jade Green [JG].

I will stop the blend series to relate why there is that touch of JG in the blend. The way I do my metallic bronze/copper is the method described in White Dwarf a few years ago. It is a great method for getting the aged look of the metal and it uses Jade Green to impart the oxidized layer on the metal. I knew I was going to use this method on the chaos star and rim so I wanted a subtle tie-in to the red. This small addition of JG to the reds is just enough that the eye will not see it but it will tie into the rim better when it is completed. I carried this small addition of green through the next series of shades, and it was also present in the water paint blending stage.

So I continued the work-up with 80/19/1 RG/BR/JG and then ended the blend with 70/29/1 RG/BR/JG. At this point I felt I needed a sharp contrast between the red of the belt and the soon to be metallic of the rim so I added a line highlight of 40/60 RG/BR. With the highlighting finished I went back and shaded the red around the inner parts of the chaos star. I did a small work-up to further deepen the red and provide the desired sense of internal power. The blend is: 90/10 SR/ Scorched Brown [SB], 80/20 SR/SB and 70/30 SR/SB. Once I was finished the shadow shades I applied a water paint of 5/80/14/1 SR/RG/BR/JG to the surface of the entire area of red. I did this a couple of times and then focused about six applications at the outer edge to blend in the line highlight a bit.

When I started the reds I was nervous and while I was working on them I was not at all happy with the effect I was getting. I persevered, in my stubborn way, and in the end I was very happy with the end result. This perseverance is something that I would encourage all painters to develop and encourage. Wait to re-paint something, or soak it until you are finished, especially if it is a long process. Trusting in your sense of colour and skill are so important when painting super high quality figures.

The rim of the belt and chaos star were gonna be much easier than most of the items I had worked on so far. It requires no blending, which was a nice break, and is all about controlled dry brushing to achieve the desired effect. So I started with a wet dry brush of Tin Bitz [TB] making sure I covered all the areas of the rim and star. I then wet dry brushed JG to the entire surface of the rim and star. I made sure I didn’t hit all the raised areas but I did cover approximately 80% of the TB with no focus as to where the paint was applied.

This sets the basis for the old weathered look of the bronze I desired for the rim. After the JG came a dry brush of Beaten Copper [BC] that did little more than tint the JG. Next came a dry brush of Shining Gold [ShG] to the entire surface. This was a weak application intended to soften the underlying JG and darker metallics. I then did a series of dry brush applications of ShG with emphasis at the edges of the rim and star. The belt was now looking very Khornite and I only needed some metallic line highlights to be finished. I applied ShG in line highlights to the outer edge of the rim and star, the cracks and the bolts on the star. I did this a couple of times bringing the highlight towards the angled areas of the belt rim and the ends of the star. At this time I decided to add a few parallel lines to the broader areas of the rim and star. This is a way to display a sense of metallic shine if it is done in an unobtrusive manor. The last bit of highlighting was done with Burnished Gold and was applied to the bolts and extreme points of the star and certain parts of the outer rim.

With the lower portion done I moved up to the six power cables that I was going to paint purple. I wanted them to be dark with very minimal highlights in an attempt to let natural light enhance the effect I painted. I normally take purples up very far towards white but decided that if I made the cables light they would become a focal point on the figure and this was not something I wanted. The decision to allow natural light to act as my highlight was a new thing for me and likely only works because the figure is so large.

I based the cables in 80/19/1 IP/CB/Cammo Green [CG]. This gave me a super dark base and the small addition of the CG starts the tie in process with the colour I was going to do the face in. These small tie-ins are pleasing to the eye however unnoticeable they are. With that done I did a layer of 94/5/1 IP/CB/CG to each raised area of the cable to make a distinctive separation from the recessed area. I then did a highlight of 90/9/1 IP/ Liche Purple [LP]/ CG on the top facing part of each raised area. This was not quite enough but it sure was close to what I wanted in terms of dark. I ended the cables with two additional highlights of: 80/20 IP/LP and 70/30 IP/LP again focusing on the top portion of the cables.

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PART I PART II PART III PART IV PART V