Killaboss on Great Gnashtoof growls its way into my collection

Riding a humongous canine mount, the Kruleboyz Killaboss terrorizes both enemies as well as his own troops. Looking at the Great Gnashtoof miniature and its rider I can understand why. I've just completed this rather intimidating looking model, further expanding my Kruleboyz army and marking the last of the Kruleboy command models from the Age of Sigmar Dominion box set painted. Next step will involve slopping green on infantry and archers, followed by breaking my resolution not to buy anything new until everything I have is painted (but I knew that was never going to happen when I made it).

The Kruleboyz Killaboss on Great Gnashtoof has the proper bearing to scare his followers into action.

I would call this a typical Age of Sigmar model. On the one hand it has a dynamic pose, oozes that good old 'bikini-clad barbarians fighting monsters'-vibe and basically scratches my over-the-top fantasy itch. On the other, it is so big (it is, like, out there). This model is almost at eye level with the last version of Azhag the Slaughterer. The Orc itself is so big, it makes Azagh looks like son-of-Azagh. That, in turn, means the model inspires me to think up bad eighties movie titles. I'll add that to the lists of things to recommend the new line of Orcs. What I'm rambling my way towards saying is that if scale creep gives you heart palpitations, you'd best avoid Age of Sigmar (then again you're probably already attached to an AED while reading this, or avoiding anything with modern plastic like the plague and got here by accident ;). Personally I enjoy this new line, although I sometime regret I can't really mix my classic Orcs in with the newer model. The size difference makes it look silly. High Elves on the other hand, still work with the new lines so its not all bad (please add some dragons to the Lumineth designers at GW!). 

I stll can't believe how well Rooibos and Green Tea with Lemon work as leaf analogues on a base. 

I had a spot of trouble figuring out what skin color to appy to the Gnashtoof. I wanted it to look sort of natural, whilst simultaneously giving a nod to all the wonderful squigs in the world. In the end I settled on orange. I built the color up from a lightly applied base color of VMA Aged White over the semi-zenithal basecoat I've described in this post. I carefully added thin layers of VGA Hot Orange over the top of the creature. This maintains the light colored belly while giving the back an interesting orange look. This had to be done with some care as I'd already airbrushed the basic skin tones on the Orc rider. An unfortunate aspect of the Dominion boxed set (and most modern GW kits) is that you can't separate rider and mount. After the basic airbrush-work I added thin layers of GW Gryphonne Sepia to the top of the model. This wash helps accentuate the folds in the skin and brings the orange to live. I used VMC Burnt Umber to make the longer hairs on the knees and tail dark brown. I highlighted these by adding white to the brown. 

A simple trick I constantly forget when it comes to painting ruins is never to use grey. Stone tends to be yellow (or at the very least yellowish) and going for a base of Zandri Dust (for instance) makes for much more believable looking ruins than (for instance) Mechanicus Standard Grey. 

With both the orange skin of the mount and the green skin of the rider done, it was time to work on the saddle and banners. I decided to use human skin color on both. Cunning swamp Orcs dressed in stitched together human skin sounds kike the proper horror story vibe I want my army to have. I used Bugman's Glow as the base color for the skin flaps. This is a very (extremely) ruddy skin tone (I never use for actual skin). With the base layer of Bugma's Glow applied, I realized the orange of the mount and the skin tone of the saddle did not contrast all that well. I briefly considered panicking, but decided to keep slapping on paint instead. To give the skin a reasonably dead look I (carefully) airbrushed a mix of Bugman's Glow and The Fang (blue) in strategic (mostly shadowy) places. This adds a bit of dead blue to the skin. Cleaning out the cup, I proceeded to airbrush spots of Kislev Flesh (a reasonably pale skintone) on other places. Patchy is the way to go with these stitched together rags. Emboldened by not hitting any of green or orange areas, I airbrushed a final highlight of Kislev Flesh mixed with Flayed One Flesh to the skin flaps. I used strategic interjection with my fingers and small bits of cardboard to catch (most) overspray). 

The colors on the severed head on the banner pole were almost entirely airbrushed on. It was one of those happy little accidents you get while painting. 

Unfortunately the extra skin coloring still did not add enough contrast between saddle and mount. I added blacklining between the saddle and the mount (and between almost every other color change on the model). This helped slightly, but still did not do enough. I then followed up by edge highlighting all the skin with Flayed One Flesh, followed by extreme edge highlights of white with Flayed One Flesh. At this point (to my relief) I finally achieved actual contrast between these large bits (miniature saved!). I dabbed a few - extremely - subtle drops of Blood for the Blood God between the severed hand hanging from a strip of skin and between the Ogre's head and the banner. I used a godawful brush to stipple the color out (Blood for the Blood God is very thick). I then spent an inordinate amount of time applying Ulthuan Grey, followed by an Agrax Earthshade wash, to every stitch I could find. I also played around with a bit of Red Tone from Army Painter on the scratches in the scary banner. Most of the ropes and other decorations where painted Dead World Forest with an Agrax wash, followed by a highlight using a bit of white with the green. I wanted this flat green on my model to give it a swamp vibe. All in all this was another fun model to paint, although I always struggle to finish large models as you just can't do them in one sitting. On to more Kruleboyz I say. I can't wait to slap an army on the tabletop to find out if they fight Orcy enough for my tastes.