Painting Snorri and Nialon

Painting Snorri, Nialon and Coln

I'm finding the odd mix of soft and hard detailing on the plastics a bit of a bear, but these Forgeworld pieces were a real treat to paint.

Work-in-progress

Nialon himself looks thoroughly grumpy yet determined: very characterful. He's the first white-bearded dwarf I've attempted, and I'm quite pleased with the result. I suspect I'll use the same technique – blue-white base highlighted up to a creamy yellow-white finish – for the bulk of my Longbeards.

To the base above, I added a few tufts of static grass from Gamer's Grass.

The completed figure's not hugely different – I mainly concerned myself here with tidying up the leather and picking out the various gold bits. I did experiment with brighter fabric, painting the ruddy leather above with a bright blue, but decided against it in the end and reinstated the deep red. It gives a lovely earthy feel to the figure, and frames the face nicely.

Coln, on the left above, was fun as well. Having areas of skin beyond the face is always nice, because you can play around with varying the hue. The back, neck and forearms can be darker than the inside of the arms, for example, suggesting that he's not always wandering around half-naked.

The strawberry-blond beard and hair was very enjoyable, and I think it's the bit I'm most pleased with. It really runs the gamut from deep dark to bright highlights – you can see how much cleaner my paintwork on Coln's beard is compared with Nialon's. That could do with a bit of tidying up... but time is pressing on.

Being a younger dwarf, Spilaf has a ruddier complexion and a darker beard. I used some red and purple washes to bring out some colour. The deep, clean lines of the sculpt made painting the face a cinch, even taking into account the helm. The plastics, on the other hand, have really soft, vague detailing on the faces, which makes them far less fun. Probably why I've done basically all the characters and finished none of the troops!

It made sense for me to try some brighter colours for Snorri – as the banner bearer of the hold, he's an important figure, and needed to stand out. Unlike Nialon, who gets to choose his own clothes (and has opted for practical everyday wear), this was a good chance to try some brighter hues. He's thus wearing an honorific uniform of red and yellow.

Again, I started off with really bright colours (Vallejo Flat Red and Flash Gitz Yellow), but the result felt slightly wrong for dwarfs, suggesting modern dyes and cleanliness – neither of which I want to evoke with this army. I therefore glazed over them with Averland Sunset and Doombull Brown, muting them a bit. The resulting mediaeval flavour of muted reds and yellows worked well, and I think I'll extend it further elsewhere in the army; perhaps for the Cyng himself and his personal guard. The banner itself was a good opportunity to experiment, and a rewarding one.

I opted for various precious metals around the banner, and a boar symbol for the hold. It's important when painting things like this to picture elements separately. The boar symbol would – in my mind at least – be central, which in this case meant that it would be overlaid by the sculpted book. That meant I had to take that into account when adding it, painting around the book as though the boar continues under it. I hope the symbol still reads properly.

I decided the book itself would be a Book of Grudges – that's something I really like from the classic Warhammer dwarf background. To that end, I've added some text using a mix of black and sepia (pure black is too stark) – and then I've scored out a few (presumably completed) entries with red lines!