Shadewraith

Ok – I dreaded this one, but found it to be easier than expected, and a welcome break from the painstaking detail I gave over some of the more minute parts of Sail-Painting on Seadrake!  I think that the most similar paint-job I’ve ever covered was for the LOTR Army of the Dead, which really only relies on a spectral two-tone colour with slight highlighting to emphasize the differences. This piece was painted in three parts – two pieces of the hull seperated and the deck with masts together.  This was definitely worthwhile, as when assembled, it gave me tiny but guilty pleasure to look between the skeleton of the frame to see the detail covered on the interior…that last sentence just made me somewhat depressed, but moving on….:) The water was done as listed elsewhere on this site, and largely with GW standard, and I didn’t mess too much with their formula for the ship either – as we now see below:

• Ok, first off was a base – I used Skull White to prime.
• I then layered a basecoat of Astronomicon Grey, but left random areas with just the white undercoat exposed – we’re talking strokes here, not cubic feet!  Don’t foget the detail of the wreckage in the water like I did – get it now before you put the lid back on the paint only to realise what you missed later!
• It then hit the whole thing with a GENEROUS daub of Thraka Green wash – and more seemed best until I realised when I was done that I could have been a little lighter!  That’s what I get for painting unassembled, but when I considered that I used a light prime and basecoat, I figured that it all evened out!
• I took this chance to pick out the seaweed with a 2:1 mix of Scorched Earth Brown and Merchite Red – worked well as it is sparingly on the hull and masts.
• Now back to some highlighting in the Astronomicon Grey – a VERY light drybrushed layer throughout (not forgetting again the wreckage in the water too).
• Although not obvious from the picture below, the torch was washed in Scorpion Green and when dry, the tip in Badb Black as the smoke darkens.  I used the Scorpion wash on the lanterns on the back of the ship too, and sparingly on the “spirits” keeping the ship aloft – little is definitely more though.
• Covered the anchor and chain a Dwarf Bronze (very) light drybrush, followed by a Tin Bitz (very) light drybrush.
• Cannon lightly layered in Tin Bitz – not forgetting the broken and scattered metal on the deck.
• Final edge overall highlighting done in skull white.