Village Attacks - The Troll

So it has come to this, the very last miniature I need to paint for Village Attacks. And I was determined to make a good job of it as the Troll is a centerpiece model. Towering over any other model in the game he’s just as liable to cave the head in of a friend as he is of foe.

So for the last time, I cleaned up any mould lines as best I could and primed the Troll with a light grey. In order for the paint to have a better time sticking to the model, even more than what the primer can provide, I gave the whole thing a coat of AK Interactive Ultra Matt Varnish. 

Skin and Fur

To start things off I basecoated the skin with a couple of thin coats of Screamer Pink. I then used the airbrush to layer the skin with Army Painter Nomad Flesh. Between zenithal highlights and broad pre-shading it’s been a hot minute since I've done anything that requires any precision with the airbrush, so it was a nice change of pace. For the face however, I did pretty much give it a zenithal highlight with Nomad Flesh, leaving Screamer Pink in the shadows. Speaking of shadows, I used Scale75 Indian Shadow to darken select areas of the skin such as the belly button and the rashes. The skin did look a little flat but I was loathed to give it a wash with all its large flat areas. 

Buoyed by my success with the skin I moved onto the fur mantle draped across the shoulders. To contrast the warm tones of the skin, and the eventual warm tones of the leather, I decided on cool greys for the fur. Appropriately enough, I carefully basecoated the skin with Vallejo Cold Grey. I then built up darker transitions with the airbrush; first with Vallejo Dark Grey and then with Liquitex Carbon Black acrylic ink. The latter being quite more transparent than you might imagine. I then blended all the layers together with a coat of Basilicanum Grey. As I was done with the airbrush, I tidied up any areas I had overspilled with Dawnstone. 

Basecoats

I had intended to use more traditional methods of painting for the Troll, hence the lighter grey primer and no zenithal highlight, but having done the skin and fur I was keen to get things done. So I once again reached for the contrast and Speedpaints. I therefore kicked things off by giving the cloth on the arms and hands a coat of Snakebite Leather. The yellow-brown colour giving the impression that whatever they are they have certainly never been washed. Annoyingly I was still getting a beading effect with the paint, clearly I had missed a few areas with my AK Interactive Ultra Matt Varnish. As I didn’t want to get the airbrush back out, having just put it away, nor did I want to change the finish on the areas I had already done, I instead opted to brush some Vallejo Matt Varnish onto the unpainted areas. Hopefully with the issue resolved I painted the armour on the arms and legs with Ratling Grime, and then to make them look metallic I gave them a drybrush with Necron Compound. 

Not wanting to risk any further beading I begrudgingly switched back to standard paints. Then again I suppose I have considerably more dirty browns to work with in standard paints. Either way I picked out all the leather straps on the arms with Skrag Brown. I’m not sure what the tassels are at the sides of the waist but I painted them Vallejo English Uniform, a very drab green-brown perfect for unwashed cloth. Or whatever they are. The strands of, I assume, rope around the waist I painted with Khaki. The chest strap and indeed the underwear I painted with Rhinox Hide. Are the latter leather or just that heavily soiled? Maybe both. Moving along I painted the patches of hide with Two Thin Coats Griffon Claw and the hair with Two Thin Coats Dark Reaper. 

I finished up the basecoats with the metallics. I painted the handles and spines of the giant blades with Scale75 Black Metal. The blade edges I painted with Scale75 Thrash Metal to give the impression that the edge has been honed and worn. The effect wasn’t great, I should have probably either drybrushed or stippled Thrash Metal on to get a better transition. I additionally used Thrash Metal to paint the ringlets and trinkets that adorn the Troll. 

Washes and Highlights

For the washes I gave the hair a coat of Army Painter Dark Tone. Every else that wasn’t skin, armour or weapons got a wash of Army Painter Strong Tone.

I started the highlight by giving the cloth and light leather an edge highlight of Army Painter Urban Buff. The darker leather meanwhile was edge highlighted with Army Painter Buffed Hide. The hair and fur mantle was given a quick drybrush of Two Thin Coats Carcharodon Grey. I mixed Army Painter Nomad Flesh with some Kislev Flesh and used it to add some quick highlights to the face. By similar token I also ran small amounts of Scale75 Instant Colours Arcane Purple into the recesses of the skin, such as the scars, eye sockets and any scars.  

For the final detail on the model itself I decided to be brave and paint the eyes. I started by painting the whites of the eyes, the sclera, with Ulthuan Grey. I wasn’t sure what colour to paint the irises at first, I figured that blue or green wouldn’t fit with an evil Troll and brown would be a bit too dark. I eventually decided on yellow and carefully painted each iris with Vallejo Heavy Goldbrown. Even more carefully I painted a dot of Army Painter Matt Black in for each pupil. Finally I gave the eyes a thin wash of Reikland Fleshshade, give them a slight pinkish tint to hint of blood vessels beneath the surface.

Base

For the base I started by covering it with Vallejo Thick Brown Mud. Once that was dry I washed it with Army Painter Strong Tone and gave it drybrush with Tyrant Skull. I then stuck a couple of swamp tufts and a clump of Toxic Hedge that I picked up from the Gatehouse Gaming stall at UKGE. Very lastly I painted the rim of the base with a matt black and that I was done with Village Attacks. 

For now, at any rate. I’m not sure if I want to back the Grim Dynasty Kickstarter for a second time…