Step by step Dwarf Hero

[razhburz]

yeah its awesome

[Tim C]

I got my AoW minis a couple of days ago and will be painting this guy up soon. I may well be using your guide for alot of reference. Excellent work so far.

[menace]

A nice display piece, i think (and it's one of my pet hates) that the gems are totally lost in there, they need to have a high contrast to glow.... i avoid these things when possible

[racssirt]

Now this is brilliant! I am enjoying watching this come to life!

[mutantpotato]

This mini is superb, great job! Not notch painting. Thanks for taking your time to do this article (or toturial).

Cheers

[mousekiller]

Chapter 12: The Orc Head

Alright, a change of direction. We are going to paint that pesky little orc head that has been underfoot all this time.

To begin, we will paint the skin.

Colours (all are Citadel Paints)

1. Dark Angels Green
2. Snot Green
3. Goblin Green
4. Scorpion Green



Stage 1: Dark Angels Green.
At this stage give the orc head a base coat of Dark Angels green. Picture one below.

Stage 2: Snot Green
Leaving only the deepest recesses, apply a layer of Snot Green. Picture two below.

Stage 3: 50% Snot Green and 50% Goblin Green mixed
Begin highlighting the higher areas at this stage. Picture three below.



Stage 4: Goblin Green
Further highlight, again working up the natural folds of the skin and the tips of the nose, ears, etc. Picture one below.

Stage 5: 50% Goblin Green and 50% Scorpion Green mixed
Start hitting the really high highlights at this stage, especially the area around the neck. Picture two below.

Stage 6: Scorpion Green.
Final highlight, so make sure to limit this to only the highest portions of the orc head. Picture three below.



Alright, moving on to the teeth and the piece of neck bone sticking out of the back side of the head.

The Colours (all are Reaper Master Series paints)

1. Bone Shadow
2. Aged Bone
3. Polished Bone



This one is pretty easy, since they are so small I opted to do only three stages.

Stage 1. Bone Shadow.
Apply a base of Bone Shadow to the teeth and the piece of neck bone in the back. Leave a bit of black showing (not too much though). Picture one below.

Stage 2. Aged Bone.
Highlight the teeth and neck bone, working your way up the teeth and bone. Picture two below.

Stage 3. Polished Bone.
Highlight even further, doing the tips of the teeth and the edges of the bone. Picture three below.




Ok, finally the tongue and eyes.

Colours:

1. Blood Red (Reaper Pro Paints)
2. Dwarf Flesh (Citadel Paints)



Stage 1. Blood Red.
Apply a base of blood red to the tounge and also to the area beside the neck bone where the had has been severed. For the eyes, my trick is simple. Dip your brush into your water, wiping the brush against the container to get rid of all the excess water. Then dip your brush (I use the 4/0 Kolinksy Sable Brush) into your paint. Once you are ready, wipe the excess on a paper towel or the back of your finger and guide the tip of the brush to the inside of the eye. It is ok if you are not precise, as long as you don't get it all over the place. We are going to revisit the orc eyes in the next chapter when we do eyes. Picture one below.

Stage 2. 2/3 Blood Red and 1/3 Dwarf Flesh.
Begin highlighting with this mixture, leaving some of the blood red exposed. Picture two below.

Stage 3. 1/3 Blood Red and 2/3 Dwarf Flesh
Continue highlighting, moving down the tongue and more the the center of the meaty stuff in his neck. Picture three below.

Stage 4. Dwarf Flesh.
Use this for the extreme highlights, particularly the upper edge of the tongue. Picture four below.




And finally, a full view.



Up next, eyes...

[Tim C]

That is really looking nice now mate. A big well done from me on this one so far.

[razhburz]

he looks awesome mate ;D

but isn't orc blood black? its still great painting though

[mousekiller]

Chapter 13: Eyes.

Ok, first and foremost, I want to apologize for the really crappy pictures. I just could not get them to come out well.

So, first off, the colours. Pretty simple:

1. Walnut Brown (Reaper Pro Paints)
2. Linen White (Reaper Pro Paints)



Stage 1: Walnut Brown.
This is basically a touch up stage if you need it, darken in the area around the eyes. I use a 4/0 brush for this.

Stage 2: Linen white.
Ok, I use the 4/0 brush, dip it in water, then in paint, brush the excess paint off, then I brush the tip of the brush against my fingertip to get a nice point. From here, I just apply the white in the areas that I want it, leaving one small dark spot in the middle to represent the pupil. It may take a few applications, but the patience is worth it.

Stage 3: Walnut Brown.
Ok, using the 4/0 brush again and the same technique as above, I fill in the pupil until i am satisified.

Stage 4: Touch up.
If you need to touch up either the white or walnut brown, do so. Or, if you look at the model and are not satisfied, go back in and redo them.

So, that is it for eyes. Again, sorry about the pic, but it was near impossible to get a decent one.

[mousekiller]

Chapter 14: Colour the Base.

Ok, this chapter is actually a lot of fun.

The colours (all citadel paints except Linen White):

1. Scorched Brown
2. Bestial Brown
3. Vermin Brown
4. Vomit Brown
5. Codex Grey
6. Fortress Grey
7. Linen White (Reaper Pro Paints)



Stage 1: Scorched Brown.
Ok, using an old brush, I apply a nice basecoat of Scorched Brown. You can leave some black peaking through if you want.

Stage 2: Bestial Brown.
Same old brush, drybrush the entire base area. You can be pretty generous on your drybrushing, meaning you can apply a bit of pressure to the brush.

Stage 3: Vermin Brown.
Continue drybrushing, same brush. Let up a bit on the brush though.

Stage 4: Vomit Brown.
Final brown highlight, so be stingy with it. Hit only the extreme edges, and be really light on the drybrushing.



Stage 5: Codex Grey.
Apply a generous drybrush (it is Ok to leave a little brown in some of the recesses) to all of the areas that you want to look like rock.

Stage 6: Fortress Grey.
Drybrush the rock edges.

Stage 7: Linen White.
Really light drybrush (very light) to the extreme edges and high places of the rocks.

[mousekiller]

Chapter 15: Adding Snow and blood.

Ok, this is a really simple process. For this job you will need the following materials:

1. Snow Effects (I use the one from Woodland Scenics)
2. Glue (I use Elmers)
3. Water
4. Eye dropper - not shown in pic.
4. Bottle Top
5. Bamboo Skewer (or similiar object, you want blunt end and one pointy end) - not shown in pic.
6. Red Ink (Reaper Master Series) - not shown in pic



Stage 1: Combine the ingredients.
Ok, take the bottle top and dip it into the Snow Effect container, filling the top about a quarter of the way or less (all depends on how much snow you need). Then, squeeze some glue into the cap. Take the eye dropper and get some water (about a quarter of the way on a small eye dropper) and add it to the mix.



Stage 2: Stirring the mix.
Use the blunt end of the bamboo skewer to stir the mix together. The consistency should end up being somewhere between chunky and milky, if that makes any sense. I want small chunks, but I also want a little of it to be milky. If the consistency is not to your tastes, add more of whatever you need. In this case, mine was a bit to watery, so I used the back of my skewer and dipped it into the Snow Effect container, stirring it into the mix.



Stage 3: Apply the snow.
Ok, using the pointy end of the skewer, add a small amount of the mix to the tip. Then, transfer it onto the base. If you have to put it in a tight spot, set it on an open spot first, and slowly pull the snow into the tight areas (i.e. next the the goblin head). Continue in this fashion until you are satisfied.

Stage 4: Apply blood.
Allow the snow mix to dry overnight. Then, mix some red ink and water together, it can be thick if you want, but remember the thicker you let it be the more extreme it will look when you apply it. On this model, I added some to the severed head piece, and (another reason I really like this snow) allowed the brush to drain where the head met the ground. What happens with this snow is that it sucks the color into it, sort of like a sponge, so in the center it is dark and on the outskirts it is lighter. I also added a few drops to the axe blades.

[mousekiller]

Chapter 16: Finishing touches.

Ok, lets finish this guy up, I think it has been long enough. So, what you are going to need is:

1. Walnut Brown (Reaper Pro Paints)
2. Dull Coat (I use Testors)
3. Future Floor Polish



Stage 1: Walnut Brown.
Ok, you can use whatever color you want here, but I like to use a dark color. You want to paint the sides of the base. Try not to use too thick of paint, or you may leave brush strokes.



Stage 2: Dull coat.
Give the base about 30 minutes to dry. Once it is, take it to a well ventilated area, and using the same procedures that we did when we primered the model, you will apply the dull coat. If this is for game play, you may want to add a gloss coat, followed by a dull coat as this will offer extra protection. I add to layers of dull coat (about an hour between coats).



Stage 3: Future Floor Polish
Go back and hit the gems, the back of the severed neck, and anywhere you want to be shiny with the future floor polish as we talked about in the gem chapter.

[mousekiller]

Chapter 17: Be proud of yourself.

Ok, this chapter is all about being proud of what you have achieved. The way you can do this, is post your finished work on a forum like this one. Ask what people think, what improvements can be made for the next mini (if you are a painter). If you are a gamer, get this guy on the table and have him crush your opponent.









And, of course, check him out at CMON: Slayer at CMON

[roguetrader]

great job on this, i really like it mate. i think i will order this at some stage and have ago at this tutorial. ill get voting on cmon now ;D

[tadme48]

This has been a great tutorial (probably already said that before) and will try out some of the technic's on some of mine. Have voted on CMoN and it gets thew votes it desrves. Again well done with this and thanks for sharing

[jabberwocky]

Outstanding tutorial, MK. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this!