TUTORIAL: Kairic Acolytes
Paint your Kairc Acolytes up fast and furious with this tutorial…
I got some of the Disciples of Tzeentch models when they came out back in January and between projects decided it would be a fun break to paint up a test model. My goal was for it to be quick and look good, which meant once again priming it white and use a lot of shades. At roughly an hour and a half for this mini I think it turned out pretty good.
Skin
Step 1.
I primed the model Corax White and washed undiluted Reikland Fleshshade over all of the skin. You want to be careful and make sure you don’t get any on the cloth. If you do we can tidy it up later, but if you’re careful now it will save you time in the end. After the initial wash was dry I went back in with Reikland Fleshshade and picked out areas I felt didn’t get shaded enough. It’s also a good idea to keep an eye on the model as the shade dries to make sure it doesn’t pool in weird ways.
Step 2.
I then went in with Flayed One Flesh and edge highlighted all of the muscles. I made these highlights a little on the thicker side, and in some areas, like on the feet, I covered up more then just an edge highlight due to excessive shade pooling there. This is really up to your discretion, but you can get away with just doing edge highlights if you were careful in your last step. Keep your lines as controlled as you can to achieve maximum effect.
Step 3.
The final step is to pick out the most prominent points of the muscles with an even lighter highlight. I used Flayed One Flesh mixed with white, but when I’m painting 30 of these guys later I will probably pick up a pot of Pallid Wych Flesh to use instead. You want to keep these highlights thinner then the last stage and be selective with where you use it. During these steps, as I was highlighting it, if I felt that contrast wasn’t enough between the shadows and the light areas I went back with Reikland Fleshshade and darkened down a few areas. This may sound like a lot of work, but it just take an extra five seconds and pays off in the end.
Cloth
Step 1.
If you were careful in the last few steps you won’t need to basecoat the cloth at all. If you got a bit of paint on it though just use some Ulthuan Grey to re-basecoat it. Ulthuan Grey is pretty close in color to Corax White. I then used a mix of Drakenhof Nightshade and Lahmian Medium and just painted it directly into the folds of the fabric. You don’t want to slather this all over the cloth like we did with the skin. Instead just paint it exactly where you want it to go.
Step 2.
Next, highlight it with pure white. I just picked out the edges and the tops of the folds.
Black and Blue
Step 1.
I basecoated the blue areas with Macragge Blue. That’s mostly just the armor sections, and the shields when you have them.
Step 2.
These areas then got a wash of Nuln Oil.
Step 3.
While I was waiting on the wash to dry I basecoated all of the black areas with Abaddon Black. This consists of the leather straps, belts, and weapon hafts.
Step 4.
I then highlighted the blue with Barroth Blue. You want to keep your highlight lines super thin and controlled.
Step 5.
Lastly the black was edge highlighted with Dawnstone Grey.
Metallics
Step 1.
All of the gold areas were basecoated with Retributor Armor.
Step 2.
The gold was washed with Reikland Fleshshade. While that was drying I basecoated the silver areas with Leadbelcher.
Step 3.
The silver areas were then defined with P3 Armor Wash. On the blades I just painted this along where the silver meets the gold to help break it up more. On his scale-mail tabard I just applied it like a wash all over it. Be careful not to get anything on the other colors. I also used Agrax Earthshade to define the gold areas a bit. I painted it into the eyes and mouth on the mask, as well as along any areas on the gold where two different gold areas met and I wanted to define it more.
Step 4.
I then washed the silver areas with Drakenhof Nightshade to give them a magical blue look.
Step 5.
Lastly, both the gold and silver were line highlighted with Stormhost Silver. I also painted all of the areas that would be gems later with Stormhost Silver at this point.
Bone and Final Details
Step 1.
I had re-basecoated all of the bone areas white previously when I highlighted the cloth. I then washed them all with Seraphim Sepia. I applied this all over them so that I tinted them a bone color. Again, be careful not to get this on the already completed areas.
Step 2.
I then edge highlighted them with white. After this I went back and finished up the last dew areas. On this model that meant some black strings around his wrist, which I had to hold off on because they went over the bird skull, which I had to paint first. These were painted just like the other black areas. I also painted the gem areas with the Soulstone Blue gem paint. Besides the base, your model is done!
I decided to base my guys in the Endless Deserts to fit in with my Tomb Kings’ narrative. I’m thinking that after the Season of War the former dilapidated city of Desert’s End on the coast of the Sour Sea will have become one of Sigmar’s newest burgeoning cities. With the new cities of course comes the taint of Chaos, and in this case, Tzeentch.
I’ll expand upon that lore more later, but for now it gives me the seed I need to start this army. I wanted my basing to be similar to my Tomb Kings since I imagine the streets of the outer districts of the city are just sand anyway. I may add in some more city like elements on a few of them as I go forward.
The colors I use for the bases on my Tomb Kings are discontinued though, and I didn’t want to use up what I have left for this army since I need it for my TK. Instead I grabbed the closest newer colors to them and tried to match them. The sand was painted with Tau Sept Ochre then drybrushed with Screaming Skull. It felt a bit too orange to me so I washed it with Seraphim Sepia then drybrished it again.
This also helped make it a little more mottled and less uniform. The rocks were painted with Mournfang Brown, washed with Agrax Earthshade and then drybrushed with a Mournfang Brown/Screaming Skull mix, and finally a bit of pure Screaming Skull to give them a dusty look and tie them into the sand.
I really like how it turned out and I’m all pumped to move forward with the rest of the army. I already own everything I need for my 1,000 points besides a box of Tzaangor Exalted.
Change is coming to the Endless Deserts.
Until next time,
Tyler M.
Tyler is a life long painter and hobbyist and took home his first Golden Demon award at the 2012 Chicago Games Day with a follow up at the 2013 North American Games Day. More of his work can be found at his blog, Mengel Miniatures.
