Sunday, January 3, 2016

'Nostalgia' from PhilH - Plaguebearer Daemons

While I almost entirely paint and game historicals these days, I got into this hobby in my youth via the juggernaut of Games Workshop. I suspect the same is true of many of my generation of wargamers. It has been a long time since I've had much enthusiasm for GW's products or games, but I look back fondly on those formative years, and have maintained a smidgen of interest in what GW have been producing (and perhaps perverse fascination in some of their business practices). Personally, I  don't appreciate much of their design aesthetic, but occasionally I find they do still nail it with impressive miniatures. 

But GW's recent replacement of the classic Warhammer world with 'Age of Sigmar' has brought Gharak back into the miniatures hobby after a couple of years hiatus; certainly unexpected.  And his enthusiasm to do some kind of AoS/Realms of Chaos mashup with warband-based narrative games has piqued my interest a little, I admit. What could be more nostalgic for me than painting up some Games Workshop minis? 

So, for this week's theme round, I present seven Games Workshop plastic Plaguebearers, the lesser Daemons of Nurgle, Lord of Decay and pestilence. 

I didn't take the theme as far as the classic, Oldhammer style sculpts, preferring instead these recent offerings. GW are refreshing a lot of their Chaos minis for AoS, but the Nurgle stuff, which I think is a few years old now, is holding up well. I quite liked this kit for giving Plaguebearers a scarier look, as for a few years they were the naff cousins of the other lesser daemons. Though I did find it a bit light on options. I avoided the usual green-hued skin in favour of a sallow grey. 

Seven is the sacred number of Nurgle in GW's old lore, so a fitting number to paint up (absolutely nothing to do with that being how many I thought I could paint this week, and a number that didn't include the goofier standard bearer or musician that the limited number of weapon arms meant I had to build). 

A wildly different topic meant I could mess about with some new techniques - including GW's 'Typhus Corrosion' paint from their new 'technical' range. A bit odd, like mid-brown wash with added grit, that dries very matt. Something to experiment with in combination with pigments, when I'm less pressed for time. 

I also tried to do some new bases, using a strange method of dripping superglue onto PVA - it dries in odd, naturalistic patterns, that I painted as some kind of pestilential swamp. It's glossy, but doesn't come out so well in these photos. 

Of the seven, this one ended up being my favourite - I liked his pose, cute chipped front tooth and the fact he has such a wide mouth you can see his tonsils. Who knew plague deamons had tonsils?!


This will just be a dalliance, I cannot see myself investing in mounds of pricey plastic kits. Do not adjust your sets, normal service will be resumed shortly...
 

30 comments:

  1. 'Just a dalliance'? Be very careful, these things have a tendency to get out of hand...

    Lovely work, Phil, very creepy!

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    1. Don't I know it!

      I-will-be-strong-and-preserve-my-bank-balance, I-will-be-strong-and-preserve-my-bank-balance

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  2. Really nicely executed paintscheme! (Even daemons can get tonsillitis)

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    1. Cheers Barks

      (I confess - I stole the paint scheme from a better painter than I, but M happy with my rendition)

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  3. gross, which is good in this particular case I guess ;-) Great stuff!

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  4. How can something so gruesome be so beautiful? Very smooth Phil, very smooth indeed.

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    1. Thanks Michael. I worry about the sculptor...

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    1. Thanks Fran - 7 miniatures, a Herculean effort for me!

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  6. I never got to grips with the whole 40K Chaos idea, too many people going on about Moorcock or some such. But seeing these and as my nephew has a chaos army I may just have to look again. Very interested now.

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    1. There are some gems amongst the dross. And toning down the colour palatte helps I think

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  7. Lovely work Phil :)

    Plague demons have tonsils? I hope you haven't been tickling them! ;)

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    1. It took some close inspection to realise it...

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  8. Beautiful paintwork Phil, so smooth and clean, which is a bit of an oxymoron with the subject matter. :)

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    1. Yes - the realm of Nurgle perhaps isn't my natural habitat.

      I didn't have time to varnish the group, so haven't given them the traditional 'grubby cuffs' dusting. That eliminates some of the clean-ness.

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  9. But where's Gharak?! I expected him to offer us an entry...

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    1. Indeed. Where is that man? You've stolen a march on him to be sure.

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    2. Last I heard, he'd painted more miniatures in one night than I have so far this challenge. He said he hadn't based them, so I wonder if he's saving up a points bomb to sink all hope of a younger brother victory.

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    3. The cad! The blackguard! The outrage of such a 'Continental' gambit.

      I look forward to his opening volley.... ;)

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  10. Great brushwork! They are some wicked looking sculpts!

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  11. Fantastic! I'm with you in liking some of the newer stuff over the classic sculpts. Your description of super glue over PVA has me intrigued. The bases look nice.

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  12. Great painting skill. They look suitably horrible!

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