Age of Sigmar - Putrid Blightkings Rebirth

I’m not sure what it was but something compelled me to return to the Putrid Blightkings I painted several years ago. Perhaps it was the manner in which I had finished them, they had sat half-completed on my painting desk for nearly a year and in the end I just wanted them done so I didn’t have to think about them anymore. Perhaps it was because I painted the base rims black, I normally paint the rims of Nurgle models with Warboss Green but I had received criticism for doing so. Seems I put more thought into how my miniatures looked to others than how they looked to me.

So let’s change that. Let’s give these disgusting horrors of pestilence and disease the love they deserve. 

First things first, something I should have done in the first instance and something I was called on when I shared the pictures online, I had left the interiors of the belly cavities grey so they stuck out like a sore thumb. So with that in mind I very carefully painted the interior of the bellies with Army Painter Matt Black. This wasn’t as hard as it sounds to be honest, as long as you’re quick you can tidy up any spillage with a damp brush pretty easily. It didn’t need to be perfect, just enough to darken the cavities and make things look a bit more natural. 

The next big area to fix was the skin. I hadn’t done any layering, just basecoated it with Rakarth Flesh, washed it with Reikland Fleshshade and called it a day. The first step was to do that layering, albeit with Two Thin Griffon Claw as my pot of Rakarth Flesh has long since died. That alone made the models look so much better. I pushed things a little further with some highlights here and there with Pallid Wych Flesh. I didn’t use it extensively as it’s quite a bold colour but the odd highlight does make the skin pop that much more. Next I painted any boils I had initially missed with Vallejo Heavy Goldbrown. Whilst the Screamer Pink that I had used for the sores and wounds compliments the warm tones of the skin the bold yellow of the boils is a nice contrast. To make them stand out even more I gave each boil a wash of Guilliman Flesh, this leaves the appearance of imflamed skin around each boil. Lastly to make them really pop each boil was finished with a dot of Yriel Yellow. Whilst I was working on the skin I also ran some Scale75 Instant Colour Arcane Purple into the eye sockets to give them a more sunken and dark appearance. 

Moving on from the skin I layered the teeth and bones with Army Painter Skeleton Bone as the washes I had used had darkened them down a bit much. For the same reason I also layered the cloth back up to brightness with some Vallejo Yellow Ochre. A few of them have some metal studs on their leather straps so I took the opportunity to carefully pick them out with Scale75 Thrash Metal. Lastly, I ran some Blood Angels Red contrast paint into the eyes of the Nurgling, I had already picked out the eyes with a white colour so it seemed an easy win to give him some glowing red eyes. I was a little tempted to do something similar with the visors on the helmets but I decided against it. It’s good to know when to stop. 

Although I wasn’t done if I’m honest. The chipping effect I had on the weapons and armour did look good but with one easy step I can take things a little further. I warmed up my bottle of Dirty Down Rust, gave it a thorough shake, and applied it to some select areas. I was very conscious not to go overboard with it, as above it’s good to know when enough is enough. As the bases are quite large and flat I tried a similar process with Dirty Down Moss but no matter how much shaking and stirring I did I just couldn’t get the effect I wanted. As the moss was a no-go and the bases did need a little something to elevate them I instead opted to apply some PVA glue in a few areas and sprinkle on some Geek Gaming Scenics Base Ready Forest Floor. Last and by no means least I painted the rims of the bases in glorious Warboss Green. 

These look so much better now and I’m really happy I took the time to come back to them. Not that it took much time at all really, perhaps an afternoon’s work all things considered. Maybe I’ll revisit some of my other old models, I’m sure some of my early Death Guard models could probably use some improvements.