Age of Sigmar - Feculent Gnarlmaw

I’m a sucker for all things Nurgle so I couldn’t resist picking up this horrific tree. Plus it would make for a nice center piece on the battlefield. 

Assembly was a doddle; no major issues and all the pieces fit perfectly. For ease of painting I left the tree separate from the base and didn’t glue the bells in place. With that done, I primed the tree and base in Army Painter Uniform Grey. The bells and chains I primed with Matt Black as I feel that metallics tend to go a bit better over black than grey. I basecoated the tree with Steel Legion Drab with the intention of then going over it with Wyldwood contrast paint. However, there is not a huge amount of texture on the trunk of the tree so even with the contrast paint it might end up looking fairly plain. With that in mind I used an airbrush to shade in some shadows from below with Burnt Umber ink, then drybrushed the raised areas with Zandri Dust. Finally, I gave it a light zenithal highlight with some white ink. Once I had applied the Wyldwood I felt it ended up a bit dark so I gave it another drybrush of Zandri Dust. 

With the main trunk done I could make a start on blocking in the rest of the base colours. I painted the dirt on the base with Dryad Bark as I use Stirland Mud for most of my bases; which is basically just Dryad Bark with some grit in it. Any rocks on the base were painted with Mechanicus Standard Grey and the various bones with Army Painter Skeleton Bone. The fleshy tubes I basecoated with Screamer Pink before giving them a drybrush near the top with Cadian Fleshtone. To give them a bit of extra definition, I very carefully used my airbrush to layer some Vallejo Game Ink Violet near the bases of the tubes. The maggots and the wings of the flies I painted with Ulthuan Grey, the bodies of the flies were done with Corvus Black. The gums of the “jaws” of the tree I painted with a couple of thin coats of Kislev Flesh, the teeth and any other bony spikes I painted with Skeleton Bone. The pustules, including the three clusters on the front of the tree, I painted with a few thin coats of Averland Sunset. To help bring out all that disgusting texture, I then drybrushed the pustule clusters with Yriel Yellow. I finished with a final light drybrush of Flash Gitz Yellow on the highest areas. The rings around the pustule clusters I painted with Balthasar Gold, why does this tree have metal parts? No idea. Same reason it has teeth. The bells I also painted with Balthasar Gold, whilst the chains and rings on the tree I painted with Leadbelcher. The leather straps holding some of the rings to the tree I painted with Mournfang Brown. And finally, the Nurgling hiding in the tree I painted with Death Guard Green. 

With the base colours done I could make a start on the washes. I started by washing the base with Athonian Camoshade, taking care not to get any on the bones or fleshy tubes. The silver parts I washed with good ol’ Nuln Oil and once that was dry I gave them a second coat of Strong Tone to make them look really old and grimey. While I had the Strong Tone out, I also used it to wash the bronze areas and any bones or boney spikes, including the teeth. With the washes dry, I drybrushed the whole base (except flesh tubes) with Tyrant Skull to pick out the raised areas. I also drybrushed any areas of bone to brighten them up again. I coated the pustules with a layer of Guilliman Flesh contrast paint, for the pustule clusters I then gave them a light drybrush of Averland Sunset to bring a bit of colour back. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have bothered drybrushing Yriel Yellow and Flash Gitz Yellow. Oh well, lesson learnt. The Nurgling I washed with Reikland Fleshshade and the leather straps I washed with Gore-Grunta Fur contrast paint. For the wings on the flies, I dabbed a bit of Drakenhof Nightshade onto them as a way to mimic that iridescence of insect wings. For the maggots under the tree, I thinned some Nurgle’s Rot slightly and applied a thin layer; this gave them a slimy appearance with a slight gross tint. Last but not least, I used some Nihilakh Oxide to paint in some verdigris on the brass bells. 

And with that, my gross tree was done! Really pleased with how it turned out, and it was a rather simple paint job in the end. It was pretty much just a case of using all that texture on the model to my advantage with washes and drybrushing.