Myth Forged - Ratfolk Soldier with Crossbow

Misprinted rat on the base missing a head

Some time ago, Vermintide 2 was free for a weekend. I’d heard good things so I jumped on the chance. Naturally, I had a blast and ended up buying the game. It also left me with a sincere desire to collect and paint a horde of Skaven. Getting a “Ratfolk Soldier with Crossbow” in my Myth Forged mystery box provided a rather serendipitous excuse to test a scheme I had in mind for Clan Pestilens. With warpfire images sparking in my mind, I primed the model with Army Painter Uniform Grey leaving the ratfolk separate from their base. 

Unfortunately for me, the Myth Forged model looks to be more leather armour than uniform. Not the end of the world I suppose but it did mean that I had to adjust my palette slightly. I had intended to give them brown fur but I felt it would be lost in all the leather, so I basecoated what little fur is present with Mechanicus Standard Grey. Rats do tend to have a bit of skin showing through the fur, typically around the muzzle, hands and feet. And of course their tail.For these I gave them a couple of coats of Ungor Flesh, which is a little orange in the same way that Kislev Flesh is a little pink. Speaking pink I did use a bit of Cadian Fleshtone to paint the end of his nose. Finally for the teeth I used some Army Painter Skeleton Bone.

For the leather, I used Vallejo Dark Fleshtone, it was a little tricky to get to some parts of the model like the chest as he’s hunched over and holding a crossbow close to his chest. For his leather pouches and belt I used Mournfang Brown. For his clothes and to actually show some Nurglite allegiance I painted his trousers and hood with Death Guard Green. To add a bit of variety I then painted his face mask and bit of cloth that poke out around his waist with Yellow Ochre. Finally, the wraps on his legs, tail and on the butt of the crossbow I painted with Vallejo Khaki. 

The body of the crossbow I painted with Dyrad Bark to make it seem as though it was made of wood. The rest of it I kept simple by painting it with Leadbelcher. I also used this opportunity to pick out the metal rings on his cloak. 

With the ratfolk done I could now move onto the base, which is very similar to the base for the Vampire Soldier (also by Myth Forged). As such I painted it in a similar fashion, picking out random cobble stones with Terracotta, Dark Slate Grey, Dark Grey or just leaving them Uniform Grey. The manhole (rathole?) cover I painted with some Scale 75 Old Copper. The rats I picked out with Dryad Bark and their tails with Ungor Flesh before giving them each a dot of Cadian Fleshtone on their noses. I think there was an issue with my print as one of the rats on the base seems not to have a face. Not the end of the world though. 

As you may have noticed, I haven’t washed anything so far. That’s because I wanted to do it all at once, and with a single wash. I was a little tempted to pick up one of those Army Painter Quickshade tins and dunk him in it. In the end I decided to slather the entire miniature and base with Strong Tone. Once that was dry the only other things I needed to do was to put a small dot of Evil Sunz Scarlet in his eyes and some Warp Lightning Contrast in the open sewer. 

Overall I’m pleased with how he turned out. He’s not my best painted miniature by far but he was never meant to be, he was simply a test for a quick Clan Pestilens scheme. One day I might go back and give him some highlights, but I’m happy with him for the time being. 

In keeping with my end of year article, I’m keeping track of how many boardgame miniatures I paint in 2022. Unfortunately, ratty here isn’t a boardgame miniature so no change yet, but it is one less model in my backlog. 

Boardgame miniatures left to paint: 766

Boardgame miniatures painted this year: 0