It's been a busy holiday weekend. I got to spend some quality time off.  Had people over and played some Warhammer and Zombicide and spent some time yesterday and today putting some paint on models.  Games Day is coming up and I badly want to finish my Ogre Slaughtermaster to put into the Golden Daemon competition - hey, I might get lucky.

Even though I really, really want to finish my Imperial Guard, its painful to paint more Krieg - they're just not fun.  I have been putting a little bit of color on them, having put a basecoat down on their bases.

After making myself get that done, I quickly switched over to the Ogre Ironguts... I love painting these models.  Just like most, there are some really dull things about them, but once you get into the detail, they become a delight to paint.  The Airbrush just makes their skin pop.  I've almost finished basecoating all six of the models, then the fun part begins!

I don't have my picture library posted on the blog yet, so below is an example of one of my finished Ironguts.  The goal is to paint up 18 of them - I highly doubt I will ever use more than that in a single army - and its a fashionable number to run a huge block of them if I really want to put the hurt on another force.  I'm keeping around the 6 finished ogres for inspiration.  Here is one of my favorites along with a Gnoblar I'm working on that you'll see more of below.  

The only gnoblars I've painted are the drivers on my two completed Ironblasters - however you really can't even see them on the model because of the cannon.  I love Gnoblars.  I've always been a fan of Orcs and Goblinkin, so the Gnoblar models helped draw me to the Ogre Army - they provide some mixup in the color and brutality of the theme.  

Unlike their Goblin cousins, I've always imagined they look much more drab and dirty.  They are a bit softer than goblins and, in my mind, more mischievous.  So I wanted them to have a more pale gray look instead of the bright green often associated with their kind.  I scoured the internet for a paint scheme, but finally just tried something out.  

For the base I used Skavenblight Dinge.  Then I worked up some highlights.  Using a 1:1 mix of Stormvermin Fur and Loren Forest, I used thin layers to build up the highlights on the raised edges of the skin.  Once that highlight was done, I added in some slaanesh grey (I love this color!) and voila, the highlights helped tone down the green.  As a final touch, I used some pink and flesh color to blush up the tip of his nose and ears - a tiny bit on his knees to tie it together.  

The Gnoblars' noses are very pronounced, so you really want to bring that out on the model.  Brightening the color helps draw the eye to the part of the model.  For the eyes, which are tiny - I used black - this helps them look a bit more subterranean.  Here is the model in it's current state - the skin is essentially finished - I've only started on the rest.  This particular Gnoblar will be resting on tusks that I added to the unit champion's Gutplate.  For the next Gnoblar, I'm going to add a small glaze/wash before the final highlight to help him look a bit more dirty.  I'm still happy with the outcome.  

I'm hoping to be done with this Ogre unit by the end of the week.  I still have some work to do - but the large chunk is out of the way.  I've yet to put their bases together and I'm working on some new shields - Since the kit only comes with 4 varieties, I'm bumming some shields from other kits - thanks to a buddy and a box of savage orcs I got on clearance!  Score!