Bloodthirster of Khorne, Beastman Shaman and Ajjatahr the rotting dryad

I recently had one of those wonderful moments where a friend drops by with some old models and says: “do you have a use for these or should I bin them?" Never bin your models people, just give them to someone who owns a vat of Biostrip. Lets just start with a shot of a metal Bloodthirster of Khorne. I weighed him in at 250 grams of solid metal. If you lose the battle you can knock your opponent out with this model (but that will cost you sportsmanship points ;) ).

I made his lolling tongue and gums stand out by first painting (and highlighting) yellow and applying Tamiya Clear Red over it. I gave it more depth by applying Blood for the Blood God in the recesses. 

Before I get into some semi-nostalgic painting I have to admit that Warhammer-wise I skipped most of the nineties. I left around ’93-’94 and popped back into the hobby in 2008 when I couldn’t resist a Warhammer 40K collector’s edition with a pretty purity seal integrated in the book. Looking at the hobby at that point was a bit confusing. When I left 40K was just about to get its first box and no one I knew was interested (I bought some Space Orcs back then). Fantasy had just moved to a box but as far as I cared the real Warhammer consisted of two Realm of Chaos books. In short I missed the big hat Chaos Dwarves, the death of the Squats, the introduction of Necron, the melding together of Chaos, Tomb Kings and most of the dreaded Red Period.

The wings where painted using Scale75 Black Leather and drybrushed with white added. I went really wild on the axe. Using fine silver highlights on the cracks and sides while applying brown glazes on the larger flat of the blade. I resisted the urge to add more blood, fearing it would just distract from the spot color around the mouth. 

This second version of the Greater Daemon of Khorne looks (almost) nothing like its predecessor. I did not really like what they did with him, especially the face. I decided to paint the daemon anyway as that tends to make me like models I previously disliked (the only exception to this rule so far have been Stormcast (but I keep trying)). Before I started I looked around the internet for painted versions. Most painters go for some variation of red skin (with varying amounts of contrast). As the armor invariably is painted red too (and the trim is given a (red) bronze look the net effect turns the model into a red blob.

I first painted the black dreadlocks red but it distracted from the face and armor. In the end I went for Black/Grey. A good choice as it helps the skulls stand out. 

In the end I decided to avoid red on red on red. Looking through the original Realm of Chaos books I realized that the Greater Daemon of Khorne in there has been painted brown (more dog like). I decided to follow that example. As I was playing around with highlighting brown using white I ended up with the flesh-tone you see on this model. I’m rather happy with it as it contrasts nicely with the red armor and bronze trim. All in all I think the effort has made him look a bit more menacing then the red tones you usually see, but that may just be my taste of course. 

At some point running away is no longer an option I guess :). I did not know what to do with the base. In the end I quickly painted a few bits from an AoS basing kit and added some PVA covered bits of Icelandic Moss to taste. 

I couldn’t resist making a group shot with the second and first version of the Bloodthirster in the foreground and the huge Skarbrand version of a Bloodthirster in the background. I love the classic Oldhammer aesthetic, but I think the humongous modern models do the concept of Greater Daemon more justice.

I absolutely love this model. Painting it was a joy too. I'm rather happy how much difference a bit of extra white highlighting (skulls) can make and what can be done with a single light layer of wash (horns)

Aside from this Greater Daemon and a metal Daemon Prince I need to paint to enjoy I also found this pretty Beastmen Shaman in the box. I love the old Realm of Chaos Beastmen, but I rather like the standard issue goat head guys from later editions as well. I really wanted to paint this model with a Zandri Dust colored robe. This unintentionally made it a bit harder to paint the skin and the skulls. In the end I went with Bugman’s Glow for the skin (highlighting using white). I just used ever increasing highlights of white to make the skulls stand out from the robe. I tried to break up the brown by adding rust to the axe and putting a bit of green around the creature’s neck. I really want to paint an army of Beastmen one day…

I suspect not all dryads march under Alariel's banners. I think I'll sneak this guy in with a Nurgle army at some point. 

Last but not least is Ajjatahr. This model was part of the Circle of Chaos Kickstarter a few years back. I never quite knew what to do with him paint wise (and I still don't). I first tried to go for a 'rotting dryad' effect. This made the whole thing a greenish brown blob. As I was wondering where to go from there, I (half-)remembered John Blanche's article on the Contrast Paint line at launch. Basically: just relax, splotch on some colors and see what they do. It sorta' kinda' worked here I think, although I may have mixed a bit of Bob Ross in with the JB.

When the going gets tough, the tough go overtly wild on basing.

Despite adding a lot of weird colors, the model still was a bit of a blob. I decided to go wild with the base to help the rotting forest monster stand out. I mixed PVA with colored bits of Icelandic Moss, added a few bubbles to a gleaming pool and covered everything with layers of Nurgle’s Rot. Disgusting, as was my intention. All in all a fine bunch of misfits to add to the display case and a nice break from painting High Elves.