21 May 2012

Enter the Carnivean


Having put together my Legion of Everblight starter box, painted my way (mostly) through Lylyth and a couple of Shredders, I was really looking forward to giving the monstrous Carnivean the attention his stature deserves.

I knew it was going to take a long time to complete. I had done his skin in the same way as the Shredders – highlighted to white – but the mass of armoured plates was intimidating and his weight was not making things easy.


I basecoated the armoured plates with a mix of Black and Coal Black. I then worked up highlightes using Coal Black and then by adding some white to the mix. This was washed with Asurmen Blue then Black to dumb down these highlights and add some depth. I also painted some Black into the gaps between plates to add shadow. The whole process took several hours spread over Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon and, to be completely honest, got a bit tedious in the end. However, I'm pretty happy with the end results even though some of the painting is quite clumsy.


The drybrushing and washes applied to the armoured plates pretty much destroyed the painting on the skin, so I had to go back in and repaint the body in Sky Blue, to effectively start this part again. As you can see in the photos, his skin needs re-highlighting back up to white then washing with blue and purple to match the Shredders' scheme.

I decided I wanted to finish the head before calling it a day, so concentrated on the tooth-filled maw for the last couple of hours. The Carnivean's claws need completing as well, and I will use the same palette for them as I used for the teeth – Black, Burnt Umber, Ochre and White.

This has been quite a change from the norm. I haven't painted something this large since the days of my Khorne Bezerker army. The weight of the metal model was inconvenient – I was in some danger of dropping him on a number of occasions while I painted details. Having said that, the added weight of the metal does give him a sense of gravitas appropriate for his station that a plastic alternative just does not have. I'm pretty happy with him so far, ask me again once I've finished his skin.

Looking forward to seeing him finished with the rest of the crew, but I won't be in a rush to paint another heavy warbeast anytime soon.


16 comments:

  1. Great work on the Carni - hope you're not too put off, the Legion are THE heavy warbeast faction!

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    1. Haha, all the models I want to add to my army are heavies. Might try the Angelius next for a change.

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  2. I think that maw turned out pretty well myself. Does sound like a bit of a challenge do to a piece this large but it looks well worth the effort.

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    1. The thing I find with the bigger models is they either look really good or complete crap when finished. A lot of things you would do to turn around a regular 30mm mini simply won't work at this size.

      You also have to break them down into bite-sized pieces rather than attack them as a whole, else you can become overwhelmed, lose confidence and enthusiasm. Then the model lives on the shelf, forever unfinished.

      Thankfully that will not be the case here :D

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  3. That's a beautiful mouth, great oral work sir...sorry!

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    1. Lol!

      I have found that the palette I'm currently using gives great results (very easily) for teeth and claws.

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  4. Stupendous Sir! Certainly worth the time and effort; as far as I'm concerned you nailed this one!

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    1. Thanks Michael. I took on board your suggestion in a previous comment about using the Coal Black (as opposed to Grey) to highlight Black, plus it ties in with Lylyth's cloak too.

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  5. Fantastic paint job - I like the way your Everblight is turning out. They're some of the better looking Hordes models, I think.

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    1. Cheers Mike. Once I have enough models finished to actually play a game I think things will really start to look the business.

      In all my years playing 40k I never gave this much attention to painting my models and so, as cool as it is to see a lovely painted Malifaux crew on the board, having an army of nicely painted models will look awesome!

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  6. Ditto what everyone else has said, especially about the dental work - nice job!

    Big metal miniatures are a real pain in the backside to hold securely, I'm always looking for new ways of holding them to paint - haven't really found a good one yet!

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    1. I'm hoping the overall look (once complete) will gloss over some of the bits that niggle.

      Still got a long way to go, although I started on the skin highlights earlier this evening. I am desperate to finish him by end of play Friday as we go on holiday Saturday morning!

      It has been a challenging paint so far and the weight of the model has contributed. If you find that solution please let me know – as Vladdd says above, Everblight are THE heavy warbeast faction so I'm not done yet!

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  7. I really like it, although the Carnivean is utterly terrifying on the battlefield.. ;O Will be linking this to my friend who just primed his Carnivean.

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    1. Unfortunately my Carni hasn't shown his true potential yet, just kinda fallen over a lot, lol. One day I'll play him the right way.

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  8. Replies
    1. Thank you :)

      Hope to have some finished photos by the weekend.

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