Frosthaven - "Fist" class unlock
Frosthaven spoilers continue as my wife and I continue to explore the frozen wastes of the far north. You have been warned.
So, as might be inferred from the Snowflake article we did not side with the Frozenfist in Scenario 4 and thus, have not actually unlocked the class. However, as we were instructed to use the miniature for said Scenario, and that the model shares a similar paint scheme to the Snowdancer, I figured I would get him painted up anyway. Afterall, I had painted the “Saw” class from Gloomhaven despite unlocking them in the digital version rather than the physical game.
I started by priming the miniature with a neutral grey, then using the airbrush to give the fur an even coat of Archive-X Reefer white. I hoped the slightly off white colour would read better as fur than a pure white would. Once that was dry I gave the far a coat of Pylar Glacier contrast paint. The light toned and high-flow paint nicely brought out the texture of the fur without darkening it down too much. Next, I painted the ice crystals on his hands, the frozen fists if you will, with a couple of thin coats of Temple Guard Blue. I then gave it a wash with probably my most valuable paint: Citadel’s Guilliman Blue glaze paint. I used to use this to paint the frost weapons for my Space Wolves; it was discontinued shortly before the release of the contrast paint range. I suppose it’s a bit like Talassar Blue contrast paint, just a bit less vibrant. In any case, treating my sole remaining pot as I would a Fabergé egg I applied an even layer of Guillman Blue to the models’ fists. Once it was fully dry, I drybrushed the fur and fists with Ceramite White.
With the bulk of the model done I could focus my attention on the remaining details. I started off by dabbing a little Vallejo Squid Pink in their mouth, it’s a nice fleshy colour without drawing too much attention away from the cooler tones of the model. Next I moved onto the bone details, painting their horns, teeth (including the one strapped across their chest), and the bone protruding from the drumstick at this waist with Army Painter Skeleton Bone. The leather draped across their shoulders I painted with a couple thin coats of Balor Brown, a yellowish brown that I felt would do nicely as the tanned hide of some unfortunate beast. Their loincloth I painted with Vallejo English Uniform, a greenish brown that gave the impression of unwashed cloth. The rope around his chest and waist I painted with Vallejo Khaki. For the haunch of meat, I painted it with Vallejo Dark Fleshtone. I decided on the darker tone rather than a red raw colour as I figured it would be more sensible to carry cured meat. Raw and bloody would firstly spoil rather quickly and secondly more than likely attract unwanted attention from the hungry wildlife. Both of which my Frosthaven native would want to avoid. The last thing I needed to basecoat was the small bits of jewellery across his chest, which I did with Scale75 Old Copper.
For the washes I kept things very simple, everything basecoated above was given a wash of Army Painter Strong Tone. And the only highlights I did were to layer the rope and the horns with their respective basecoats, just to make the recesses stand out a little more.
For the base, I first painted it with a few thin coats of Ulthuan Grey and picked out the solitary rock with Two Thin Coats Dungeon Stone. Despite not being flat, the base was largely untextured so I didn’t feel that it would benefit from a wash of any kind. Thus I moved straight onto applying snow to the base. I mixed Valhallan Blizzard with some PVA glue, which helps to thin the texture paint without diluting it too much. This means that when I dabbed it on the base and blended it in, it looked like partially melted snow. I also dabbed a bit of this mix onto his fists, to really sell that frozen look for them. Which looks better than either random amorphous blobs of snow or completely covering the base with texture paint. Finally, I painted the rim of the base with Two Thin Coats Celestial Blue.