The Future Belongs to the Mad

"We must be bound to one another... bound by hell-forged chains and fate-haunted circumstance. Well, then let it be thus so—and men will have cause to tremble and flee when they hear the names of the Madrak Ironhide and Rathrok, his axe."

The first warlock model I wanted to tackle was the first warlock that I learned how to play, the straight fightin', skull splittin', kriel leadin', world endin' Madrak Ironhide, Thornwood Chieftain. This was done after I had accrued a healthy amount of experience painting the infantry size models. At this point, I had painted roughly half of my Fennblade contingent (stay tuned for that post, there's a lot of Fennblades).

The world is a mess and I just need to end it

With this model, I wanted to emulate the more distinct coloration of the Trollblood warlocks from Privateer Press's artwork, but keep the greener undertones befitting a more orkish theme. To that end, Madrak's skin was achieved by using a basecoat made from a mixture of GW Waaagh Flesh and Eshin Grey. It was then washed in Athonian Camoshade to keep a sort of muddled gray-green tone. Finally, I highlighted the skin with a mixture of what I'm fairly certain was Dawnstone and Straken Green.

Who's ready to Rath-Rock!?

Deadlier bling never existed

I went with a red colored tartan on Madrak and all the Fennblades, since it would contrast sharply against the green skins of the orks. Observant readers will notice a base color of red, followed by a lattice of black stripes, with a Dawnstone gray square picked out at each intersection. I kept this color theme with Madrak as well, also trying to give an angry, red, eldritch glow to the runes carved into Rathrok and on his amulet. By using multiple shades of red and building from large patches of a dark red to smaller patches of much brighter reds, I tried to give the impression of light emanating from the runes and amulet. I painted the sheen on top of the jewel set in the amulet with one of GW's technical paints, 'Ardcoat. 'Ardcoat is a cool paint that can be used to achieve a glassy shine in small amounts, or a wet look in large amounts. (yeah tune in for that post as well on the Swamp Troll)

The armor pieces were a genuine pleasure to paint, as they were a combination of both the quality of the standard model and the custom work of my esteemed colleague. The visual effect I was going for was something similar to the way Madrak's armor is depicted in the books published by Privateer Press, a sort of warm, dark metal with highlights that were distinctly bronze. This effect was done using a base layer of GW Brass Scorpion, then washing it numerous layers of Agrax Earthshade and Nuln Oil. While I don't wan't to say I drowned the armor in washes, I definitely waterboarded it until it revealed numerous state secrets. After bonding over imminent charges of high treason, I highlighted the armor details by drybrushing on a layer of Hashut Copper to really bring out the muffled bronze color underneath.

A real looker from every angle

Everyone knows that amulets derive their
power from flexing those guns

And here we see a tribute to a chief member of the ork pantheon, the almighty Mandibulus Horribulus

The scroll tubes were another joy to paint, with their radically different texture compared to other components of the model. The stone look was fun to experiment with. I left the undercoat of Eshin Grey exposed, then washed the piece with Nuln Oil, eventually drybrushing more Dawnstone on top to give a more pockmarked look to the stone. The caps were also done in Hashut Copper, then washed with Agrax Earthshade.

I already made a rock music pun, so let's just assume I said something clever here too

The base of the model, however, is what really give this Madrak a truly distinct profile. Again, all modeling credits are due to my esteemed colleague who would gladly wax poetic on the virtues, ease, and versatility of plaster. The stones of the base were undercoated in Eshin Grey as well, then washed liberally in a thick, saucy layer of Nuln Oil so that the paint would dry in uneven blotches and sink in to create deeper shadows. I then randomly drybrushed some Dawnstone on top to give more dimension to the stone, then went about adding my grass flock around the base of the rocks and into the cracks to give a more weathered, natural growth look. The mud on the lower parts of the model were an afterthought that I ahve since begun including on many of the models, achieved with drybrushing light layers of GW's Gorthor Brown onto boots, rocks, and the lower parts of tartans that would likely drag on the ground. This theme of weathering and drybrushing will be continued as these posts on painting The Ravening Kriels continue to accumulate. As always, gentle reader, stay tuned for more.

The mud of a thousand campaigns starts with one brushstroke