Gloomhaven - "Sun" class unlock
In our Gloomhaven campaign, our party recently passed a reputation of 10 which unlocked the “Sun” class. If you do not want to know what class this actually is, then please stop reading now.
The “Sun” class is the Sunkeeper, which seems analogous to the traditional paladin class. In that she is somewhat of a tank class that can perform heals and has an affinity for light/holy magic. Either way I was very excited to both paint and play this character. I was tempted to go full non-metallic metal for her but she is a Valrath like my the Red Guard from Jaws of the Lion. I was really happy with how his armour turned out and wanted to do something similar for the Sunkeeper.
WIth that in mind I primed her with Army Painter Matt Black then used the airbrush to give her a nice even coat of Vallejo Metal Colour Magnesium. To really bring out the contrast (pun intended) of the armour, I gave the areas that I wanted to be silver a coat of Basilicanum Grey contrast paint. Once it was fully dry I drybrushed all the metallic areas, including those that would be gold, with Necron Compound. For the areas that would be gold I gave them a couple of coats of Iyanden Yellow contrast paint, which I felt was rather fitting for the Sunkeeper class. Plus I wanted to create a look similar to how the armour for the Red Guard turned out, as that looked really good. The Iyanden Yellow turned out alright, yellow is a tricky colour especially when brushed on. In hindsight, perhaps I should have airbrushed the yellow and tidied up with Leadbelcher. To really boost the colour, I did some very fine highlights with Flash Gitz Yellow. Finally, to give the armour that high shine that it has in the artwork I gave it a quick coat of gloss varnish.
With the armour done I could focus on the rest of the model. The largest remaining area being the Sunkeepers cloak. Again I wanted to tie this into my Red Guard, even though they’re from completely strata in Valrath society. The Red Guard being an outcast of the Valrath capital of Jhinda and the Sunkeeper being from a highly praised sect of Valrath society. In any case, I basecoated my Sunkeeper’s cloak with a few layers of Evil Sunz Scarlet before giving it a wash with Nuln Oil. Once that was dry I carefully drybrushed across the folds of the cloak with Jokaero Orange. For the small loincloth and parts of the cloak around her neck I used a fine detail brush for the highlights.
For her skin, I basecoated it with a few thin coats of Kislev Flesh before giving it a wash with Army Painter Red Tone to give it the reddish tint that Valrath skin has. I highlighted back up with thin layers of Kislev Flesh. For her eyes, I carefully painted them with some Corvus Black to match the artwork. For her hair, I gave it a couple of thin coats of Ulthuan Grey before giving it a wash with Apothecary White to bring out the texture.
The last bit that I needed to do was the shield. For the wood on the inside, I first painted it with Vallejo Khaki before giving it an even layer of Wyldwood contrast paint. For the face of the shield I started by basecoating it with Covrus Black. The artwork has a sun/star design on it that is not on the model. So whilst I could have left it blank I decided to be brave and try freehanding it. Which turned out okay, I’m not winning any awards for it, but it was a reasonable effort. I used Scale75 Dwarven Gold for the design as it covers well and a small dot of Evil Sunz Scarlet in the centre of the sun.
Pay no attention to the poor freehand on the shield.
And finally I based her in the same way that I have all my Gloomaven miniatures so far, with some Stirland Mud texture paint, a wash of Strong Tone and a final drybrush with Tyrant Skull. Slapped on a tuft of two and she was done.
Another model done, inching towards double figures completed this year. As fun as these models are, I do need to do some batch painting and really make a dent in the numbers.
Boardgame miniatures left to paint: 758
Boardgame miniatures painted this year: 8