Bestarium Studios - Tormented Soul
Within the walls of Calden Keep the dead are rising. Even those driven mad by the Lord Torturer before their untimely death have returned…
Another miniature that I picked up from the UK Games Expo (UKGE). Like the Ettin I got from Crooked Dice, I grabbed this as it was perfect to practise skin tones. While the Ettin’s skin was sickly and pale, I wanted the rippling muscles of the Tormented Soul to stand out.
Knowing what I wanted to do, I stuck the model to their base and primed them grey.
First I base coated the skin with some Two Thin Coats Griffon Claw, I actually made this quite thin so that the grey undercoat would show through. Next I gave it a wash of Army Painter Strong Tone. Once that was dry I started the highlights first with Griffon Claw then with a fifty-fifty mix of Griffon Claw and Pallid Wych Flesh.
This turned out alright but unfortunately it wasn’t the look I was going for, the skin was too pale. I hummed and hawed wondering how I could fix it, before realising that I couldn’t. I’d need to bite the bullet and start again. This is why we use thin coats of paint folks.
Starting over, I basecoated the skin with Cadian Fleshtone and even with just that it already looked much better. As before I then gave it a wash with Red Tone. I then layered Cadian Fleshtone on the muscles, before then highlighting with a mix of Cadian Fleshtone and Kislev Flesh.
To contrast the red tones of the skin I wanted the rest of the model to only have cold or blue tones. With this in mind I painted his rags with a few thin coats of Dawnstone. These I then painted with Army Painter Speedpaint Runic Grey, which is a nice cold blue-grey colour.
For the remaining details, I painted the metallic details with Scale75 Thrash Metal, the wood details with Dawnstone, the ground with Two Thin Coats Dungeon Stone and the bricks with Corvus Black. Essentially, all varying tones of grey. It pained me greatly to paint the wood grey. My usual method for painting wood is a basecoat of Vallejo Khaki followed by a coat of Wyldwood contrast paint. It makes for a lovely rich brown that unfortunately wouldn’t do in the cold and drab scene I was trying to set with the model.
In keeping with the drab feel of the clothing, I gave his rags a wash with a coat of Army Painter Speedpaint Runic Grey, which is a desaturated blue-grey perfect for the look I was going for. I highlighted the folds in the rags first with Dawnstone and then small amounts of Ulthuan Grey. The base and metallic areas I washed with Basilicanum Grey contrast paint, which did a nice job of darkening them right down. By way of highlights, I gave the base a drybrush of Dawnstone and for the metallics, I used small amounts of Scale75 Thrash Metal just to bring out the edges.
This turned out alright. I’m still not convinced that I’ve made the skin look sore and raw to be honest. Aside from glazing with more Red Tone I’m not sure what I could have done? I started off with some grand plans but all I really did was swap the Reikland Fleshshade wash for Red Tone. But this is a learning moment, and I learnt that I probably need to go in with more of a plan rather than slapping down paint and hoping for the best. If anyone has any tips for painting inflamed or sore skin please let me know!