Water Priest
Click here to view the assembly guide of Gar Shatterkeel & Water Priest
As the priest is the largest and more complicated model out of the two, I have decided to paint him first.
The whole colour scheme is based on a green/blue palette, starting with a warm dark green basecoat on the kelp outfit.
Two coats of dark brown ink washed were liberally applied as the shade colour. This will seep into all the cracks creating a dark border for each length of kelp.
The main Black Forest Green is re-applied along each kelp strand.
These are all the different green tones used for the kelp, in order.
Skin
To match the reference, the skin is a pale green colour.
Instead of moving to the highlights, I have started painting the basecoats for the straps and barnacles. This will make the highlights easier to paint, around the details.
The skin is now complete.
Shell staff
The hole in the shell is painted with pink cream tones, just like the real thing.
Base
The layer of black creates the black-line border around the kelp dress, making the edges stand out even more.
The first drybrush layer is a lighter mid-grey.
To break up the grey colour, thin earth and green coloured ink washes are applied over the base.
Re-highlight the rock edges with light grey will bring out all the details.
Small details
The straps are painted with a light green grey tone, which compliments the overall colour scheme.
The gem on his belt is another nod to the sea, with blue tone and a sharp white dot to represent the reflection. This will be glossed later on for even more shine.
Woodgrain
Hair
Small details
Attached to his belt are two small items; a conch shell and a small horn-shaped shell. These both have been painted in a sympathetic colour to match the overall tone of the Priest.
Eyes and face colouration
The eyes were painted before the shading. I have chosen turquoise as an extra tone to his face and concentrated around the eye sockets and lips, followed by a couple of dark blue ink washes.
Summoning bowl
This small scenery piece gives me another opportunity to paint water effects; I have copied the same palette as the Water Myrmidon, to keep the same look through both box sets.
I painted the white highlights first as a guide and then used thinned white to blend into the highlights, the more water moves, the whiter it appears.
The bowl was painted in a simple gold colour so as not to detract from the water effects.
A final two coats of gloss varnish were applied all over, except for the wooden staff and the outside of the bowl to create a watery summoning scene.
Gar Shatterkeel
Very similar to the Priest, Gar is basically a two colour scheme miniature, with metallic relief tones on the trident and mechanical crab arm.
This appears messy at this stage of the skin tone; the barnacles will hide any mistakes later on.
I have left the rest of the skin highlights till the barnacle basecoats are finished, as I can then paint the skin highlights around them.
As there are so many barnacles, I have kept the colours simple with off-white and a black dot.
A final thin was with green ink gives a variation to the skin tone making it look more natural.
All other areas were given an undercoat of black. This provides a graphic border for the waistline and weapon, making them stand out.
Trident and Claw
I generally start with the mid-tone with metallics and shade afterwards, if you add too much shade colour i.e. black, the dark silver finish is dull and lifeless.
Base
The colours for the shore-line sand texture are the same for both miniatures, grey cream tones with a couple of green ink washes.
The final detail is the crab. I have chosen the common dark red through to an orange highlight.
A final two coats of gloss varnish finish and protect Gar Shatterkeel.