Keeper of Stones

I've been quite busy over this glorious long weekend, and ahead of schedule the Circle Orboros Stone Keeper is finished! Yet another miniature that's been an absolute joy to paint, I'm really digging Privateer Press at the moment.  Originally their style of miniatures put me off, but the more I paint them, the more I'm liking them.

The pose is great, not too much flash and he was easier to glue together than I expected.  For a miniature this dark I had to undercoat him black.  The first element I painted were the robes:

• Base coat:  Black - the blurb for them refers to them as "stoic blackclads", so the colour had to be a type of black
• First highlight:  A 1:1 mix of Charadon Granite and Black blended in
• Second highlight:  Charadon Granite blended in
• Final highlight:  A 1:1 mix of Charadon Granite and Dheneb Stone applied as an edge highlight

I used a variation of the scheme above on the Dark Elf Assassin from a few posts back, but I feel like I've nailed it on this chap. I'm really pleased with the earthy tone to the black, it feels more natural.

Next up was the green on the shoulder pads and "hood stripe" - I have no idea what this is meant to be called, so that's the name I'm giving it.  With an already black undercoat/base coat there, the green was really simple:

• First highlight:  Orkhide Shade blended in
• Second highlight:  Knarloc Green blended in
• Final highlight:  Gretchin Green blended in

...and that's it!  Nothing complicated and it compliments the black well.

The stonework was up next.  The stones on the base were dry brushed, to give them a textured look and to be honest it would have been difficult to do anything like blending on them.  The stone on the weapon, chest plate(s) and backplate(s) were layered/blended in:

• Base coat:  Adeptus Battlegrey
• Shade:  Chaos black diluted to a wash liberally applied
• First highlight: Adeptus Battlegrey
• Second highlight:  Codex Grey
• Final highlight: 1:1 mix of Codex Grey and White

When looking at the bottom of the staff against the rocks on the base, I'm not sure having two different styles of highlighting works, but it's not too noticeable.

Then I was on to the gold - I wanted this to be quite bright as the rest of the model was so dark, but I also wanted to avoid the orangey gold that the PP studio used, so another simple scheme was born:

• Base coat:  Scorched Brown - my current favourite base for gold
• First highlight:  Dwarf Bronze
• Second highlight:  Burnished Gold
• Final highlight: 1:1 mix of Burnished Gold and Mithril Silver

The last of the major elements was the skin (Nothing groundbreaking there, just my usual way of doing mid-toned skin):

• Base coat:  Tallarn Flesh
• Shade:  Gryphonne Sepia
• First highlight:  Tallarn Flesh was applied to all but the most recessed parts
• Second highlight:  Elf Flesh
• Final highlight:  Bleached Bone

With all the major elements done, the boots were highlighted with Charadon Granite and Khemri Brown, and the gravel of the base was dry brushed with Charadon Granite and Dheneb Stone.  The eyes were done with much swearing, and the gem was painted - using the same colouring as for the green of the shoulder pads, and a white dot highlight.  The base then had it's curved lip neatened up with some Chaos Black, and we were ready for some greenery.

I added some Woodland Scenics "Underbrush" olive green foliage to the base (good stuff by the way, I will be getting their lichen too I think), with some dabs of PVA glue, and when this was dry, I sprayed the whole model with Humbrol acrylic matt spray varnish.  After waiting a while for the varnish to dry, I then carefully applied some gloss 'Ardcoat to the gem to make it shine.

So job done!  I don't know if I'll ever collect a Circle Orboros army, but this model is cool enough to tempt me.  After doing a quick scan of the PP website, it will be between them and the Legion of Everblight if I do take up Hordes, both have some lovely models.

On to Pedro Kantor next, and then the second warjack...

As always comments and criticism welcome!