Warhammer 40,000 - The Ancestor's Wrath

Along with the Heathkyn and Kahl I had also picked up this kit when it was released for Warhammer Day 2023, so it made sense to get all three assembled and painted at the same time. Although truth be told I did take a small break in getting this one painted up, otherwise I think all that collective edge highlighting would kill me. At least the Hearthkyn and Kahl Grendok had voidsuits to contrast the power armour. 

In any case the model was fully assembled but was left separate from the base. As I tend to do these days I chose the unhelmeted head as I feel they have more character, and painting faces isn’t all that hard. Although to be honest I don’t really paint faces, I just slap a wash down and hope for the best. With the model assembled, I primed them with Colour Forge Standard Grey. 

I started the painting proper by giving the model a base coat of Vallejo Game Air Squid Pink. Any overspill that I got on the head I tidied up with Two Thin Coats Dungeon Stone. I then base coat the face with Cadian Fleshtone. Lastly, I gave the model a zenithal highlight of Liquitex Titanium White acrylic ink, this creates gradients on the armour between the deep pink in the shadows and a near white on the highest points.

Before I could take advantage of these gradients on the armour I first needed to very carefully paint the joints in the armour with Black Templar. I could then, again very carefully, highlight the ribbing on the joints with Two Thin Coats Dungeon Stone. 

From there I could make a start on the armour proper. Working in sections I gave the armour, shield and parts of the hammer an even coat of Imperial Fist. The gradients established by the zenithal highlight turn the Imperial Fist to a warm orange in the shadows and a bright yellow on the raised areas. I then painted the fur tassel at the back of the miniature and the hammer handle with Militarum Green. The hammer strap I painted with Garaghak’s Sewer and her hair I painted with Wyldwood.  

From there I painted all the silver areas such as the head of the hammer, the cylinders on her back and the bolters with Scale75 Thrash Metal. The decorative knotwork and armour crest I then picked out with Scale75 Old Copper. 

With the base coats done I could move on the washes. The most time consuming of which would be the recess shade between all the armour panels, so I started with that. Using a thin brush I ran an equally thin line of Army Painter Dark Tone between each of the panels, the dark line helping to visually separate the pieces of the armour. And while I had it out I also gave the silver areas a wash of Dark Tone. Lastly for the washes I gave her face a coat of Reikland Fleshshade. 

For the highlights, I once again started with the largest area: the armour. I thinned down some Vallejo Pale Sand and carefully highlighted the edges. I didn’t do every single edge on the armour, I mainly focused on the edges where the light would catch. As I had with the other Votann miniatures I highlighted the leather with Vallejo Khaki and the green areas with Ionrach Skin. Lastly, I highlighted the scar on her face with a thin line of Kislev Flesh and the strands of her hair with Two Thin Coats Scorched Earth. 

The base was constructed and painted in the same way that I had for the other miniatures. I started by tearing up and glueing down some cork tile. I roughed up the edges and even gouged a little divet in the cork to further give it the appearance of rock. Once I was happy with how it looked I spread a thin layer of Vallejo Red Oxide Texture paste on the top of it. When they were dry I prime the base with Colour Forge Matt Black, followed by giving the whole thing an even coat of Army Painter Matt Black to get anywhere that the spray had missed. I then used my airbrush to spray a thin coat of Liquitex Titanium White acrylic ink. I then went back in with Archive-X Caboose Red to give the appearance of a lava glow around the edges. To further enhance this I carefully sprayed some Archive-X Reefer Yellow inside the red, where it overlapped with the red it became a wonderful warm orange colour. From there I tidied up the top of the base with Army Painter Matt Black before giving it a drybrush of Two Thin Coats Dungeon Stone. To finish off the base I painted the rim black. All that was left to do was to attach the model to the base, using a small length of brass rod in the foot of the model that I could then stab into the cork, with a bit of superglue, to ensure a secure bond. 

And with that she was done. I am really happy with how all of these Votann models have turned out and, as mentioned in another article, I may have to collect a few more of these. My process is a little more involved than what I normally do these days, which is typically just to slap down a contrast paint and call it a day. But I can’t argue with the results. And to be honest, now that I have a Champion I should probably pick up a squad of Einhyr to go with her…