Lev's Vampire Log

[LevDaddy]

Hello out there in the lands of Carpe Noctum - After a few stints with Beastmen and Tomb Kings I have been recalled amongst your ranks. Vampire Counts were my very first army a few years back and it is time to re-raise the undead.

I am basically stripping down my entire army and starting from scratch. I'm going to use a lot of non-GW toys. My first task is to create a fully painted 1500 pt army by April 1st to join our escalation league at my FLGS.

I will be starting with the following:

Master Necro - I'll probably be using my old metal Heinrich model because I love it.
3 Banshee Heroes - Waiting for my Noisy Ghosts to arrive from Titan-Forge in Poland http://titan-forge.com/fantasy_miniatures_drakskulls_menace_noisy_ghosts
OR a Vampire of Sorts

Zombies - Mantic (WIP below)
Skellies - Mantic
Dire Wolves

8x Crpyt Horrors - I'll be using Flesh Reapers also from Titan-Forge http://titan-forge.com/fantasy_miniatures_gravehaunt_hills_flesh_reapers
2x2 Fell Bats
1xSprit Host - Some LOTR Army of the Dead on a 40mm

Varghulf/Black Coach

Eventually I will flesh the army out with all sorts of goodies, but I'm going to pace myself so I don't freak out. Usually when I get into a new army I buy everything at once and end up staring at boxes for months and months.

I would love any feedback and comments. I'm going for a bit of a brighter theme than I have done in the past focusing on Reds, Blues and Oranges - which happen to be the colors of the Armenian Flag - and I am utterly sick of painting bone so I am going to be testing out some alternate methods, maybe some blue "frosty" bone colors. Would love to hear any thoughts on painting less traditional methods of bone because this is entirely new to me.

Stay tuned!

 

[LevDaddy]

Zombies WIP. Sorry for the subpar pic.

I absolutely love these Mantic models, they are a blast to paint. The stonework bases are not yet finished.

 

[Mad 'At]

Looks like a good start, the zombies have a nice warm tone and the bases are looking promising.

For alternative colours on VC I would suggest taking a look at Malikos' plog, he's got some great stuff going on there and uses a lot of unusual colours.

 

[LevDaddy]

Zombies DONE!

I really like the way these turned out. I like the bases, too.

I thought there were a little monotone and too warm after my first WIP pic, so I went in and added some blue and purple washes, especially on their backs, before calling it done.

Up next, Skellies! I've tried so many odd painting schemes for bone, I think I've finally settled on one. Stay tuned.

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[HipoxiK]

The zombies look awesome mate. I love the cracked stone bases and would love to know how you achieved this look.

The idea of using a different colour for the skellies instead of bone sounds interesting, can't wait to see them.

 

[LevDaddy]

Thanks Hipoxik!

For the bases - I was inspired by a post by Baron Samedi - see post #56 on the linked page below. Except I wanted to make a stone/graveyard themed base as opposed to earth.
https://www.vampirecounts.net/Thread-How-to-Base-your-models?page=3

Essentially I laid down some white glue on the bases and had them dry near a floor fan for about 15 minutes until they hardened but didn't dry completely. Then I laid on a thick layer of black crackle paint onto the glue and waited until it dried over night.

To paint I did the following:
Base Coat with Astronomican Grey
Shade coat with very watered down Scorched Brown to get in the recesses.
Heavy Drybrush of Astronomican Grey
Line Highlight plus random stipling of white.
Lastly I did a selective wash of watered down Agrax Earthshade.
Static grass, to taste.

Took a long time, but I really like the result.

 

[LevDaddy]

Skeleton WIP. Going for a ghostly bone look.

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[LevDaddy]

I'm not really liking the cloth colors I've been testing - browns and orange-browns. I need a color to go along with my turqoise-ish bone scheme (most visible on the skelly on the right and in good focus, above) + the metals + grey/stone bases. Should I try blues? Straight orange?

Any thoughts??? I'm colorblind, so this part of the hobby is extremely difficult and even more frustrating.

 

[PrinceCharming]

the bone colour is cool man!

 

[HipoxiK]

Yeah I like the blue tinged bone colour too. My skellies have a brown stained look, as if they'd just crawled out of the dirt so it's nice to see another variation.

Maybe you could brighten the cloth up a little bit if you don't like it. Maybe add reds to the mix, more of a Von Carstein style red which always looks good for VC and would stand out better then browns.

 

[LevDaddy]

Yeah I like the blue tinged bone colour too. My skellies have a brown stained look, as if they'd just crawled out of the dirt so it's nice to see another variation.

Maybe you could brighten the cloth up a little bit if you don't like it. Maybe add reds to the mix, more of a Von Carstein style red which always looks good for VC and would stand out better then browns.

I'm glad the bones are getting a pass! This is my 2nd VC Army with a TK Army in between........so...sick...of paint...boooooooone, which is why I'm trying to funky things.

Thanks for the suggestions - I'm going to try reds on the cloth. A friend suggested since I went overly warm with the zombies to just go with full on cold-themed colors with my skeletons and use greys and purples for the cloth and then rust up all the metal to make the bones pop more.

I'll do a few tests of the red and the greys this week and see what happens.

 

[LevDaddy]

Test WIP w/crappy pic - changing things up a bit. Still need to add a little rust to all the metal and highlight the grey/purple cloth.

I think it's already a vast improvement. It's making the skin...errr bone...pop.

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[HipoxiK]

I like the purple better then the brown/orange. Are you going to put a dark wash of some sort on the armor. That will make the colours pop more as well.

 

[LevDaddy]

I like the purple better then the brown/orange. Are you going to put a dark wash of some sort on the armor. That will make the colours pop more as well.

Thanks!

Yes on the armor, I'd like to make it darker, and try to add some rust effects.

 

[Mad 'At]

I like the orange ones, but I've always been a lover of warm colours. In this case it give a very nice contrast between warm and cold. But if you go with rusted metal that could bring the warm contrast to the models instead.

Love your zombies btw, nice feel of newly dead on them. Also, considering them I would suggest trying to keep some warmth in the skeletons, as it would make the whole army look better together.

 

[frankenstine]

looks sweet mate loving the bases like

 

[LevDaddy]

First ten, all but the bases done! I went with the easy way out with the cloth as these models have already taken up so much of my time. Just a simple basecoat, wash, line highlight.

I'm going to mix the cloth up in the next few batches with other cold tones - different greys, purples and blues.

@Mad - I couldn't really find a warm tone that worked so I'm just going full cold with these guys. Maybe I'll do all my fleshy undead in warm tones, and my boney ones in cold and mix it up with the characters. I dunno, I'm kinda making it up as I go.

My overall goal is to use unique colors and have the bases tie the units together.

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[Randar]

what colors did you use on the bones i like the blue tinge

 

[con-fusion]

what colors did you use on the bones i like the blue tinge

No kidding. That is a nice color.

 

[LevDaddy]

Here's my latest iteration.

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[LevDaddy]

what colors did you use on the bones i like the blue tinge

No kidding. That is a nice color.

Thanks! I based it on an ethereal technique I came across. I'm still using mostly old GW colors, I'm sure the newer equivalents will work out fine.

Bone Steps:
1. Prime white
2. Basecoat Astronomican Grey. I did two thin coats to get a smooth and even coat.
3. Wash all bone with a 10:1:1 mix of Water:Blue Wash:Hawk Turquoise. This will be a thin wash, mostly for the recesses. Wait till it dries 100% before moving on.
4. Re-layer Drybrush of Astronomican Grey.
5. Highlight Drybrush of 50/50 White/Astro Grey.
6. Very selective highlight of pure white.
7. 50/50 mix Water/Blue Wash into a few areas like the eyes and mouths, top of the knees, or in the ribs if you want them more pronounced. Less is definitely more.

Enjoy your ghostly bone!

 

[xFallenx]

That unit really came together, looks amazing.

 

[LevDaddy]

Loooooong awaited update. I finished my Skeletons awhile back and have been working on other stuff that I will post up, as well.

I'd love to know what anyone things.

 

[robtion]

Great work, those skeletons look fantastic (also really like how your zombies turned out) and great bases

I particularly like the skeleton unit on the left for some reason. The coulours work well and the shields look really good.

Mantic skeletons are quite comical looking as they kind of frown or something, but they have a lot of character. I have 20 or so but have not painted them yet. Your plog is inspiring me to get moving with them.

Also, personally not a fan of the purple on the headless guys hood/cape, seems a bit bright and draws attention away from the rest of the unit. That could just be my personal taste though.

Keep up the good work, I look forward to seeing some of your characters painted.

 

[Zhatan]

Very original colour choices, I especially like the shields.
Also it's nice to see some mantic skellies.