The Bloodthirster

By Anthony Karl Erdelji

Before we get onto the painting, a quick review of the model. The model itself was very well cast, except for the wings, which were terrible! The amount of flash on the wings was stunning, several on the spikes had extra pewter attached to them, one was even split down the center! I won't even mention the fact that they were so thick that in scale, they would be about 4 feet thick (Try flying with those. ) Be careful when removing the flash, those spikes are very sharp! In addition, the tabs on his back were too big for the holes in the wings, so I had to file them down.

The rest of the model was not much of a problem. I was planning to bend the wings a bit forward, so they would look better, but the axe was in the way. Normally in this type of situation, I would simply cut and glue the arm at a different angle, but since the arms are glued at the elbow, that would not be possible. And cutting the shoulder would of been to much work, so I bent the wings as much as I could. By the way, PIN EVERY JOINT!!!! They'll need it. Now, onto the painting.

After primering, we start painting the skin. I'm using Ral Partha's Dark Red as my base color. After painting it on, I gave the skin a Black wash. Then I drybrushed the Dark Red over it. For the highlights, I added RP Red to the Dark Red and drybrushed it over the model. Red is used for the final highlights. Normally I would not drybrush such an important model, but I did it for two reason: First, I'm using the same technique I used on my Khorne Berserkers and it came out very well. Second, after each stage of drybrushing, I'm going back with that color and blending it in, to soften the rough spots.

With the skin done, I moved onto the second largest area, the wings and fur. I painted the wing membranes, hair, fingernails, hooves, and fur black. The wings and hair I highlighted in my normal fashion; Highlight with RP Drow Flesh, then Dark Gray just on the very edges. To keep everything from looking similar, I highlight the fur with RP Chocolate Brown, then again with a spot of Leather in the Brown. For a worn look, I drybrushed the fingernails and hooves with straight Dark Gray, then with a medium Gray on the edges. By doing this, I've kept the number of colors to a minimum, but by highlight with different colors, it makes more interesting than just highlighting all the Black with the same color.

For the armor and weapons, I mixed Polly Scale Oxidized Aluminum with Black and applied it to the axe, armor and whip handle. Adding black to the Aluminum not only darkens the color, but help it go on much smoother. I highlight with pure Oxidized Aluminum, then with Polly Scale Stainless Steel. For the areas of brass, I painted them with Polly Scale Bright Gold and shaded it with a Chestnut Wash. No more highlighting is necessary.

The horns are painted next. Start by painting all of them RP Chocolate Brown. Highlight them by adding Ivory to the brown. Repeat the process, adding a bit more ivory every time, about 4 sets of highlight should be enough. The big horns on his head were painted in the same way, but about 9 sets of highlights being applied. Next, paint all of the skulls Ivory, then give them a Flesh Wash. When dry, go over again with Ivory. Highlight with Ivory and White. A Brown Wash was added to the eye sockets for depth, except for the larger skulls on the armor, which were painted in black.

I planned to paint the whip as if it were glowing with an inner fire. I painted it Orange, drybrushed it with Red, and then again with Dark Red. The final result looked a bit too much like the same color of his skin for my taste. So I decided to redo it with RP Dunkel Brown, a Chestnut Wash, and highlighted with Dunkel Brown and Leather. It came out much better then my first attempt. The tip was painted Black, the spikes were painted Gold.

We're entering the home stretch now. Paint the inside of the mouth black. Pick out the teeth with RP Dun. Highlight them with Dun and White. Paint the gums and tongue with RP Dragon Tongue Purple. Highlight them with Purple and White. The same color Purple was painted onto the veins. The base was painted with Polly's Cockatrice Yellow/Green, shaded with a Green wash, and Highlight with the same Green and white. I painted the horseshoes Gold.

Now is the time to go back and clean up the areas of the model where paint went were it was not suppose to. For a final touch, I stippled some Magic Wand Rust Wash onto the Whip handle and a few areas of the armor. I mixed up some Red and Brown Wash and stippled it onto the axe for a dried blood.

The entire model was sealed with Testors Semi-Gloss. When dry, I sprayed it with Floquil Flat, and when that was dry, I pick out the eyes and teeth by applying Testors Gloss with a brush for a moist salvia look. Done!

And there you go! An impressive model to say the least. Since your color palette is pretty small when painting this guy, Red, Black, Steel, and Brass, its important to pay attention to those little details. You don't want your Bloodthirster to look just like everybody else's, do you? Feel free to experiment, but stick mainly to those four colors. Good luck!