Snotling gits reinforce my Greenskin ranks...well they'll be sort of standing there in the background....

Why would anyone in his or her right mind add Snotlings to a Greenskin army? Please feel free to put your answer in the comments, I don't have one ;) As to this ragtag group: a few years ago I had the chance to buy back almost all the lead models I sold around the start of the nineties. Among that lot was my Snotling Pump Wagon. I think I bought it in a blister when I just started collecting. On re-acquiring the Basic Pump Wagon I stripped and repainted it. As Age of Sigmar was not on the radar I based it square and stuck it in my display cabinet. Zap forward to opening my Orruk project box in September. It contained a rather large collection of unpainted Snotlings (41 plus a pair of drunk Snotlings) and a second (half-finished) pump wagon with expansion (a second deck was optional way back then). To jump forward to the conclusion of this post, all of the models have a coat of paint on them now and the old pump wagon has received a new base.

Now these gits are ready for almost nothing!

Back to the 'why Snotlings?' question. Well there is the nostalgia fueled basic pump wagon. The other pump wagon has a nostalgia claim a well. I always regretted not buying an expanded pump wagon and had the chance to get one second hand. As for the Snotling bases I have to make an admission. I actually bought two bases of Snotlings from Games Workshop a few years back (against my all second hand rule for the Greenskin army). I was hit by a completionist vibe towards my expanding Greenskin collection and decided painting two bases of Snotlings fell within the realm of sanity. A week later I bought a second hand lot. In this case a badly photographed box labeled 'assorted warhammer' on the second hand website. Fate has a wicked sense of humor so Snotlings to cover another two bases turned up in this lot. Exit sanity enter a total of 41 Snotlings (and two drunks) to paint.

In Age of Sigmar regular Orruks inspire Snotlings that fight close by, this still does not make the Snotlings useful in a fight.

The hard part about painting Snotlings is that these models are actually lovingly sculpted. They have funny facial expressions that beg to be pulled out by the brush and they carry more accessoires then you would expect. On the other hand they are tiny, die in droves and manage to turn invisible when you put them between other models. Also I had 41 of them. The odds of finishing that many Snotlings to any sort of standard are small (at least for me). Attempting it will more likely result in putting my own collection in a second hand box labeled 'Warhammer' and selling it for next to nothing. I decided not to go down that road.

A dreaded part of any half-forgotten project: counting how many models you actually have.

Instead I assembled the Snotlings on my cutting mat and decided a number needed to be washed of excess old paint. Into the Aceton with you, my diminutive troops!

There they are, all washed and ready to be bascoated.

After (tooth-)brushing them I dropped them on some paper towel and allowed the Aceton to evaporate.

One advantage of Snotlings is that they don't wear more than a loincloth.

The next step was basecoating them by airbrush and after allowing the basecoat to set spraying the lot (Vallejo) Goblin Green.

I admit it! I dipped the little runts....I couldn't think of a quicker way to get them washed.

I followed this step by turning to the dark side. I used my large pot of Vallejo Sepia Wash to just dip the lot. As I lost all joy in painting Snotlings at this point I gave them ample time (weeks) to dry.

One Snotling done, another forty to go....groan.....

After some time I manned up and decided to finish a single Snotling. Only forty more to go! At this point I decided to go for a 'one a day' approach with the intent of finishing the lot within a month and a half. The next day I followed up by not painting a single Snotling. Another week passed and the kitchen towel with green painted, sepia-dipped Snotlings started to weigh on my mind. Was it watching me accusingly as I lavished attention on chariots and shamans? In the end I decided action was needed. I executed evil plan number two: drybrushing the lot.

Drybrushing is a fine technique for furs, chainmail and quickly getting a blob of Snotlings in a basic coat of paint.

To ease my conscious I then carefully applied a thin line of (human) skin color on the bottom lips of all Snotlings involved in the process. At this point all it took was for me to sit myself down twice. Once on Friday evening and again on Saturday morning I just had to take a few hours to finish the lot up. Not pictured: me cursing all Snotlings and the Warhammer painting hobby.

Two ends of a toothpick attached to a bit of plastic rod and we have something resembling a pump handle.

During this cursing I found time to make a quick emergency repair to the two story pump wagon (its crew and the pump handle are missing). Yes I really hate this hobby....mumble mumble...okay it's actually a lot of fun....

Just add some Mournfang Brown....

Sitting on the bottom floor I'm going to pretend the crew have taken a quick break from pumping to pelt the enemy with mushrooms, small rocks and harsh language.

Cleverly hidden on the bottom deck of the pump wagon: my improvised handle.

I have to admit I rushed the project just to finish it. Also the larger wagon is still missing a base as I had to mail order a fresh one and it isn't in yet. As to the other base I'm quite happy with the green stuff mushrooms I made for it. Should do that more often. So a bit of a rush job (between the scenes as it was spread out over almost two months), but still better then the alternative. I'm quite sure these Snotlings would be terrorizing a plastic bag at the bottom of a project box if I had tried to paint them with all bells and whistles. So there they are, ready to fail at achieving any serious battlefield goals. But where are the two drunk ones? They haven't been finished. Over the years I think I have painted the drunk Snotlings about a dozen times and every time I finish I hate the paint job so much I have to start over...it's just something of a tick I have with models I love a bit too much. Next up: me finishing a unit of boyz (maybe).