Painting the Emerald Wardens

I have something of a love/hate relationship with Instagram — on the one hand, I love the sheer amount of inspiration to be found and the amazing standard on display across the miniature painting community really motivates me to work on my own painting skills. On the other hand, I really don’t like the way that it currently tells you how many (or in my case how few) liked your work.

 Anyway, having really gotten into the Age of Sigmar lore and with my Ossiarch Bonereapers (the Nehekankh) almost completed, I had a hankering to do a Stormcast Eternals army and started looking on Instagram for inspiration for colour schemes, as most of the standard ones just weren’t grabbing me and I didn’t want to go down the (admittedly) awesome Hammers of Sigmar route. I stumbled upon baalu_wildheart’s incredible evocators painted in the colours of what I assure are the Celestial Vindicators and was instantly smitten!

I’ve not included any pictures of her models, but do check out the link, you won’t regret it. As I’ve long wanted to try my hand at the non-metallic metal (NMM) look, I thought it would be worth giving it a go. I realise that this is hardly an original approach, but given how much I have to learn as a painter, I think it’s really helpful having such beautiful models as a reference and a yard-stick for comparison.

 Rather amusingly, having experimented with a basecoat of Kabalite Green, sketching the highlights with Corax White and then using thinned Kabalite Green and another method (basecoating with a 4:1 mix of Kabalite Green and Corax White, followed by lots of glazes), I’ve discovered that baalu_wildheart very kindly posted details of her recipe for the turquoise and red some time ago.

 However, I don’t consider it time wasted as it’s been good practice. That said, I am glad that I started with the Stormsire's Cursebreakers from Nightvault rather than a part of my main army.

 Here’s my first attempt — she’s still WIP and now that I have a better idea of what I’m doing, I’m tempted to go back and fix a few things.

And here’s a (very WIP) second attempt. The use of glazing means I’m much happier with the transitions, but I reckon that the basecoat probably should have been a touch darker).

 I should add that while I love Baalu_wildheart’s colour scheme, I’m not a big fan of the Celestial Vindicators — they feel too much like pre-heresy World Eaters for my taste and while I do like the XIIth legion, I wanted to do something different lore-wise. Given that Apologist and others really wanted me to create my own Stormhost with some good links to the Tallowlands. It occurred to me that it would be great to have an band of stormcasts defending a damaged realmgate to Hysh that bathes everything in an emerald light and came up with the idea that they’re all drawn from partisans/guerilla warfare fighters — those who kept on fighting after their lands had been conquered by Chaos before Sigmar’s Tempest and the Age of Sigmar. You can find my background for my Emerald Wardens here.

A quick side-note on painting — one of the things I’ve learned fairly recently is the importance of continually looking at the model you’re working on from as many angles as possible. With the sheer amount of detail on modern miniatures, it’s very easy to miss areas and given that the eye relies on the borders between details to resolve them, it’s essential to be as neat as possible where one colour/material meets another (e.g. where the turquoise armour meets the gold trim). I’ve found that the Citadel Model Holder really helps in this regard.

To help provide consistency, here’s a list of all the paints I’m going to be using going forward. 

Baalu_wildheart’s turquoise armour recipe 
Vallejo Model colour Dark Sea Blue base colour Glazes of Game Colours Jade Green and Foul Green and Aquamarine (Pacific Color) for final highlights.

 Baalu_wildheart’s red fabric recipe 
Vallejo Model colour Burnt Red, Calvary Brown and Basic skin tone

 Red fabric (GW paint alternative) 
Basecoat Mephiston Red Shade with repeated applications of watered down Red Tone (in the shadows only) Highlight with Evil Sunz Scarlet, for the sharpest points on the folds use a 1:1 mix of this and Jokaero Orange, followed by pure Jokaero Orange.

Red gems 
As fabric but ignoring the shading step and starting with a basecoat of Gal Vorbak Red, highlight of Word Bearer Red, then Mephiston Red. Do final highlights of Jokaero Orange/white, then gloss varnish

Soul Crystals 
Basecoat Temple Guard Blue, Highlight with Lothern Blue, Highlight with 1:1 Lothern Blue/Corax White Final highlights on the corners of the crystal with Coax White. OSL the surrounding area with glazes of very thinned down Temple Guard Blue.

Off-white shoulder pads
Basecoat Morghast Bone Several layers of Wraithbone

NMM Gold
Basecoat Game Extra Opaque Heavy Brown (72.153), Wash with Sepia (72.091), Highlight with Game Extra Opaque Heavy Gold Brown (72.151) Highlight with a 1:1 mix of Heavy Gold Brown and Corax White Corax White for the most extreme highlights

 NMM steel 
Basecoat with Game Colour Cold Grey (72.050) Highlight and shade with mixes of Cold Grey and white or black as required. Note the NMM Vallejo guide/kit has a few more steps for adding some tone, but these aren't needed given that the areas are small and will get glazes for tone anyway on the swords. Note that the coloured swords require very light basecoats on which to work, so I’ve realised that it’s probably best to go Celstra Grey, Ulthuan Grey, Corax White (the latter used for the sharp highlights and little diagonal lines) and then apply contrast paints.

Blue/green/yellow transition on swords Talassar Blue and Warp Lightning contrast paints, with a thinned glaze of Lamenter Yellow towards the top. Basing Stonework/paving Rakarth Flesh Edge highlights and stippling with Pallid Wych Flesh Glaze of thinned down Dryad Bark (medium, and a little bit of water) Thinned down yellow glaze Mud Dryad bark, highlighted with roughly a 2:1 mix of Dryad Bark and Corax White. Leaves Basecoat Jokaero Orange Agrax Earthshade wash Red Tone wash