Something stirs in the barrows -- Constant Drachenfels' army blog

[Constant Drachenfels]

Greetings my shambling comrades! I would like to start my very own army blog which will hopefully see quite a few updates in the weeks to come.

Having collected Warhammer undead as far back as 1994, I totally fell in love with the new models when the current ed army book was released last year. I want to go heavily into a barrow theme with appropriate unit fillers, a paintjob that makes the weapons and armour appear like rather ancient artifacts and lots of sickly-green witchlight.

So far I have a little finished stuff to show with WIP shots of the current things to follow up soon.

This unit of grave guard I painted last January to get a feeling for the new undead, and was quite happy with how it turned out:

Scratch-built dolmen unit filler; always happy to save me some time painting troops! ^^

Wight King Heirdall Morkarsson - no idea if he is any good in battle but I really like the model and had to have it. ^^

Pretty much a year later I finally decided I needed to paint something again and set on working on the core skeleton regiment. Two character positions in the regt are supposed to be filled in by Heinrich Kemmler and Krell sometime later along the way, for now I just put the Necromancers in for showcase purposes. I will probably put the second necromancer into a small unit of Zombies instead.

Dolmen unit filler. The most complicated conversion actually was the bat since GW is seemingly unable to produce a nice flying bat model I converted one from the crouching bat off the CC (at least that's where I think the bit came from) and helmet wings from a grave guard champion.

For the necromancers I tried to get them to look a bit like the masked dragon priests from Skyrim, much like my avatar. I figured it would make them a bit more interesting than your average necromancer with bad teeth and a grey beard.

Next up will be a corpse cart and a unit of Ghouls 24 strong with another small dolmen unitfiller to tie them in with the army theme.

Hope you like them so far, ideas and feedback always welcome! ^^

 

[Johnny-Crass]

:O

 

[Bullhax]

This is great! Awesome unit fillers! Necro conversions are REALLY well done! Love the colour scheme..

The free-hand banners are killer and the crescent moon thing that goes throughout the army is really clever!

Looking forward to see more!

 

[Mad 'At]

Great stuff

Solid colour scheme and nice theme.

Loving the little conversion. The bat wings are brilliant, I would love to get a better pictures of them. I also like the hoods on the Necromancers, how did you you make them? If you don't mind me asking.

And the glowing green details is a nice touch, especially loving the candles.

Although, I have to say I'm not 100% sure on the red details. They seam a little off : /
The green works great as a spot colour, while the tan, brown and purple form a warm (which I love, and it is rare on VC) base for the models. The red however shines very strong although not quite as a spot colour in use, as it targets some odd places. For this reason I like the grave guards better than the skeletons. But then again this come from the guy who himself has no restraints for adding strong colours here and there.

Please keep it up and show us more

 

[Yorga]

This is simply amazing work! I wish God had granted me with a tenth of your artistic skill. <----jealous zombie.

 

[Kassill]

So after starring at your models for probably a good 20 mins or more completely numb, I can only say these are spectacular! I might have to borrow your idea on the Necros! I love the result!

 

[Constant Drachenfels]

Thanks for the kind comments guys! Glad you like 'em so far.

@Mat'At - the hoods were quite simple, just slap on a small rectangle of greenstuff on top of the wizards head and pull the edges down on either side and the back of the skull.
The bat does not look like much when seen close-up, but I find it's a nice addition to the scenery.

I agree with your remark on the colours, I might have overdone the red in the skeletons a bit. I actually repainted a few of them to purple clothing to reduce the amount of red a few days ago, so it was even worse before that. ^^ In my meta my armies are known for their rather monochromatic colour schemes (Grey Knight, Death Korps of Krieg, Black Templars,... duh!), so actually having to tone it down was an entirely new feeling. ^^

Sure Kassil, go ahead and spread the word and the ideal of hooded and masked necros

 

[untitled_musketeer]

This is a fantastic looking force that is well executed in terms of its technicality, but also in it's creativity and originality. You have a great painting style, and a superb understanding of colour theory which together make an attractive looking force. I love the unit fillers and the OSL, but moreover, I love the clean and crisp, yet old and grimy feel you've managed to encapsulate - the splendour of an ancient proud army that has succumbed to a dark existence!

Massive respect!

Happy painting,

u_m

 

[Adam_Barrow]

Whoa! This stuff is killer. Talk about coming strong straight off the block. I'll be checking this plog often.

 

[Count Lasombra]

Very beautiful work.

 

[SoulSeeker]

Nice work.

I particularly like the scenic elements, which are useful fillers but look more like background items, so they don't detract from the feel of a big unit, which can be a problem with some unit fillers. The swirly celtic motif is a winner too. Not convinced by the red bits, not really in keeping with the overall look and feel of the cool palette.

 

[Burnanation]

Awesome work! I do like the red bits, when the models are altogether. On their lonesome, I agree that the red bits look a little off.

Post more pics!

 

[Von Calyptra]

Oh man, this stuff is gorgeous. I can't say enough positive things about your paintjobs. I'm ok with the red bits, though on the wights I wish it were a bit more brown. My only other criticism is that you missed some mold lines on the skeletons.

 

[BloodbathMcGrath]

Wow. Your theme is awesome and just a delight to look at. I like how you brought it a lot of bright color but kept them in a cool pale tone. Did you have to do a lot of mixing to get the colors like that?

 

[Constant Drachenfels]

Did you have to do a lot of mixing to get the colors like that?

Not at all, it's just a matter of carefully and repeated use of shades.

Let them dry and apply a second layer and the colour changes quite a bit. I use agrax earthshade as base, nuln oil for the deep shades, seraphim sepia for the more rusty specks and a very thin shade of thraka green to tone down the whole thing and get the overall greenish tint. Just a little chainmail on some of the edges then does the trick to get the stuff look like metal.

I tried a similar technique back in the days when I built my Death Korps of Krieg and knew it would surely work fine on the very detailed skeletons as well. Still have to try it out on Zombies and Ghouls though.

 

[BloodbathMcGrath]

I think I have to train myself to apply washes a little more carefully. My skeletons were completely dulled down by my overall coat of nuln oil and I think that is where I destroyed their color and crispness....thanks for the tip! Maybe next time I will apply black wash first to get the depths filled, but then paint over the majority of the model.

 

[Noobafrass]

*drool*

 

[frankenstine]

im realy envious now

 

[Melle]

wow...
im speachless.
.

your models look absolutely Amazing!
Thank you, for making this plog, allowing us all to enjoy this. keep' em coming

 

[chuz]

one of the most beautiful units ever seen on this forum!

 

[Duke Danse Macabre]

I expected great things just from the name of the plog and sir you have delivered.
Good show!

 

[Kingside_Bishop]

Wow, this stuff is inspiring! I love how your fillers tie everything together so beautifully!

 

[Monkey's_Uncle]

I hadn't looked at you plog until today.
Now I consider that a serious oversight on my part, your models are quite simply stunning!

An entire army painted to that standard should be a sight to behold.
This has inspired me to get painting my vamps again (when the weather is suitable for spraying that is), have a rep on me.

 

[Constant Drachenfels]

This has inspired me to get painting my vamps again (when the weather is suitable for spraying that is), have a rep on me.

Wow what a great compliment! Thanks Mate.

Now, what have I been doing of late?

I at last painted up my Cairn Wraith. I bought this model when it was released, when I had no plans at all to start a vampire counts army. Now I'm glad I bought it, for I have high hopes it will be useful in my grave guard unit, in small games at least.

I don't know if the green witchfire (wildfire, anyone?) that I use for glowing bitz in the army actually works for ethereals. I'll probably try something different with banshees and the ME when I get to them. But it looks nice when put into a unit.

WIP Zombies. I really don't like the GW models but they haven't yet managed to come up with new ones and I had them sitting around for a few years now. I will probably only use them as a small necromancer bus or for raising them fresh from the battleground. So far I have only painted up some mottled skin by using several washes. It should look more solid when the rest is painted up.

The next dolmen unit filler WIP, this one will be for my ghoul regiment. Maybe I'll sit a ghoul on top who wants some piece and quiet to gnaw on a piece of old bone all by himself.

Cheers!

 

[Johnny-Crass]

That is how I paint my zombies also!