The Final Day of Citadel: Nurglings

 

The festive season has drawn to a close. The decorations are down, the houselights switched off and up and down the country children are being bussled earlier into bed knowing that school starts again tomorrow. I managed fourteen painted figures in the end. A model for everyday of my holiday, though they were not painted in that way. I had the odd day off honest. Twelfth Night is tomorrow as well, and a suitable ending point for a Christmasy painting binge.

These classic little blighters need no introduction. I found these unfinished in one of the tatty boxes that were returned to me a few months back. I think I began work on this the year I did 'The Tale of the Four Oldhammer Gamers' with Paul, Steve and Chico. 

That was the best hobby group thing I ever did. 

Long time readers may well remember my small Nurgle Warband I created for the project. Somehow, these little creatures slipped through the net and never got to join their brethren of the boil. So it was fun to finish them at long last as testament to those glory days. 

Like a newb, I based all these figures before I started painting them (perhaps a factor while I gave up on them all those years ago...) so it was fiddly to reach the individual nurglings. The base was also a problem, my usual retro style far too green to work with these tiny models. I had also used GW sand from back in those days and it had loads of large stones dotted about. With hindsight, a more subtle level of sand would have been much better looking.

Still, they are finished. 

I hope you lot like them. 

Not sure when hobby time will rear its head again for me. Things will be full on again as of tomorrow. The electrician is due back to install lighting outside, we need to organise the initial works for the kitchen and my dental woes have returned to bring me down once again.

There are still so many models I want to get completed and I have that skeleton horde project to hopefully make progress on as well.

Orlygg

The Seventh Day of Citadel: C47 Ratman Skewer

It is a chill eve. 

After the sun fell, this enthusiast finally found time and inclination to wander down to his workshop to complete today's figure. The walk is becoming second nature to me now. A magical stroll past the large frozen pond at the foot of my garden, our neighbour's Christmas lights twinkling in the darkness. Distant lights reflect from the frosty surface as the ice hardens and spreads.

Soon to be over. 

The cold is interesting inside the workshop. It is almost too cold. By this I don't mean like a fridge or freezer. My workshop was long an abandoned place and on these chilly nights it seems to recall it's long period of silence. The small room is still and quiet most of the time with only the odd stray pigeon scratching across it's flat roof. The sound of their claws can be quiet unexpected and startling. Especially when in deep concentration.

Those footsteps remind me of the chittering hordes of Warhammer. The Ratmen. The Skaven. So it was just such a figure that I sought to complete tonight. 

Skewer is another one of those 1985 sculpts from the initial range. So early, that the name 'Skaven' was yet to be coined. The tag reads 'Ratman'. And a rat-man he is. I always liked the subtlety of the skaven, and chaos, in the 1980s version of Warhammer. They were both secret forces working to destroy society from within, without and of course, in terms of the skaven, below. According to the fluff, these creatures didn't exist and were just tall tales to be spun on frosty nights.

Secrecy and denial played right into the hands of the skaven back then. The old lore was well conceived and dark. Unconcerned by social justice or virtue signaling. 

I used pretty much the same methods and I did with Warpeye. Only instead of green I opted for a blood red shock when it came to the tattered clothing. This red was simple: Blood Red washed with Brown Ink, Highlighted with Hobgoblin Orange and Sunburst Yellow. 

The shield uses the same colours to match the rest of the paintjob. I found this added some coherency. I also didn't have much space to work with for a classic freehand design so its just as series of lines. It seems to work, at least to me. I see it as a looted shield from some forgotten storeroom.

The skaven were supposed to be scavengers. 

It grew late. Dark and cold. I took these three pictures before retiring to the warmth of the house. My workshop is a spooky place late at night. Those of you who enjoy the BBC podcast 'Uncanny' may have recently listened to the 'Priest Hole' episode. 1980s Warhammer plays a role in a terrifying tale of a teenager boy's encounter with a supernatural force. 

Search it out if you haven't heard of it...

All alone in my workshop it is easy to imagine spectral powers at work. Did I really place that paint pot there? Did I really fold up the grey piece of card I use as a photographic background?

What are those scratching noises on the roof?

Is it the roof?

The walls then...

Orlygg

 

The Sixth Day of Citadel: C07 Bounty Hunter

 

On the first day of a new year it is pleasant to wander beneath the stars down to your workshop. The sky was clear and the air chill. Stars, in there thousands, speckled the sky while the glowing, shimmering moon hung high. 

A beautiful sight. 

This bounty hunter was not a beautiful sight at all. Not good, not bad, but rather ugly. The slotta base was missing, one foot damaged while most of the crossbow at his hip was absent. To top all of this, he is another one of those dreadful pewtery casts from the mid '80s where the detail distorts and rubs away. 

All in all, he was a figure with no name. And no hope.

Thanks to a little green stuff and a lot of paint he lives to hunt again. Doesn't his visage grace a piece of art in the Enemy Within campaign, or was it the WFRP rulebook? I can't quite remember. Repairing him took me every which way but loose.

I tried to keep the colour scheme as brown as possible here, as a nod to Clint Eastwood's numerable Westerns (spaghetti or not) that clearly influenced this figures design. I didn't have long to finish him either, as MFM required me for telly watching. In fact, I am needed even as I type these letters. 

I'm satisfied with the paint job. I'm sure to go back and tweak bits here and there when I have more time, especially on the glowing cigar. Ultimately, this morning he was in a shocking state and now he drifts the high plains once more.

Perhaps I should hunt out another one of these figures, in better condition. But he will probably cost a few dollars more.

Orlygg

The Fifth Day of Citadel: C47 Skaven Command Warpeye

 

This post brings us to the end of 2025. Who would have thought a year ago I would be typing these words after a (fairly) busy year of Citadel hobbying. I'll avoid the usual retrospective just yet, it hasn't quite been a year of miniature painting as my first figure in many years was finished on the 20th of January. I'll wait to then to compare my first and latest model.

Fingers crossed I get there. 

For I have been deep in the dank sewers of my workshop trying to restore some really manky ratmen. I've cleaned most of them up and chose the figure you can see here, Warpeye, as the first one to complete. He was a challenging paint for many reasons. I've never been successful with these models, beautiful as they are. I've never felt able to do the models justice which was why I endeavoured to clean up and paint the small stash I have been given. 

Look at the state of them. I'm not sure what the muck is but it is very hard to shift. I had to use Dettol overnight to script the paint and acetone to shift the brown 'crust' adhering to the surface. A good brushing with some washing up liquid brought the models up to their best but much of the surface detail is worn down. They remind me of models that have been in a box or draw for decades and thoroughly bashed around, not that I have ever inflicted that on a miniature - honest.

The casting is also weak. All the models in this little donation are clearly from the mid '80s when the lead ran out and far too much pewter was in the mix. They are tinny and brittle which is why the detail has suffered so much I suspect. 

Beggars cannot be choosers. I have little choice but to restore other people's unwanteds. Not that I am complaining of course, I quite enjoy restoring these battered old figures and giving them a new purpose. 

Cleaned up and base coated they look okay but I've been finding it quite daunting to interpret exactly what the battered pieces of detail actually are. I have another three or four figures from the early skaven range on the desk at the moment so look out for them in the coming days. 

If any of you have any skaven related painting tips I'd love to hear them, Especially around my pet hate, getting the fur to look like actual fur. 

Warpeye was simple colourwise. I used Bestial Brown from the fur, my own Blood Red and Bronze Flesh mix for the skin on the hands, tail, face and feet. I went for the archaic bronze look I used with Daethskar for much of the metal work and Mithtril Silver, shaded with Black for the iron elements. I discovered some random green that I don't recognise from any of the Citadel sets in my stash of paints and used that for the filthy loincloth, highlighted as always with Bleached Bone. Not that you can see in the picture, but the eyes are bright red pupils. 

What do you guys think? 

I hope I've brought him back to life at least. Nothing worse than one of these precious old figures lanquishing unloved and unpainted any in some miserable place. 

There were couple more figures in this donation unrelated to their ratty friends. I've also been working on those so it is anyone's guess what whimsey will take the next time I wander down to the workshop and paint. 

Until than... Happy New Year...

Orlygg

The Fourth Day of Citadel: Skeleton Army Re-enforcements

Another pleasant afternoon was spent in my workshop and I managed to get four new skellies finished for my long running Skeleton Horde/Army project. I've long neglected the restoration of these fabulous plastic classics so it was nice to get back working on them. I've forgotten how much I enjoy the simplicity of painting these fine fellows.

They were all in various conditions when I began working on them. Nearly all the models here were damaged or snapped in one way of another. A little glue, greenstuff and a lot of time saw them properly re-built. Then it was a case of applying my usual method of painting up the bone. 

All the shields are copies made out of greenstuff or liquid resin. 

Most of my time was spent on the designs for the shields. You can see them presented here in order of painting. As you will know, I've long been a fan of the freehand skull and I have been working on recalling my skills of yore this last year. I have long employed the colourful backdrop for each skull but now much prefer the simple, black look illustrated on the shield to the far right. 

It is far more sinister.

I've also been experimenting with adding eyes to the skulls. With again, the last example being my favourite. I really need to start building up some actual reference material when I am doing these. Observing actual skulls should, I hope, refine what I've achieved so far a little further. 

I couldn't resist a snap of all of my re-animated skeletons. I have completed fifteen standard plastic models now, half of the full compliment of Skeleton Army. The remaining figures are the most damaged and fragmentary so should be fun to work with in the new year. I've added the metal figure I finished a few months back too to even the unit out.

I hope all you digital grognards approve.

Orlygg

The Third Day of Citadel: Night Horrors Imp 1986

 

Nothing takes me back to the height of my collecting days like the Night Horrors range. These were once the 'most wanted' in collecting circles and owning a full set was a dream to many a Citadel enthusiast. The range was largely ignored by me back then, being primarily focuses on Warhammer models and Realm of Chaos stuff. 

I see now that I did myself a disservice. It is such a wild and wonderful range that more should be written about it. I know the old GW stalwart, Graeme Davis, wrote several articles on his blog about some of the figures in the range... most notably the three medusas and his writings are far more worthy than mine. Go seek them out and you will not be disappointed.

This imp figure was part of a small bundle donated to me recently. Unlike the last few models, he was in perfect condition when I began (a rarity for me) and I struggled to get him to work as a figure. I began life a far stronger red and I had it in my minds eye that he would resemble one of those little devils so popular on ankles in the 1990s. Over time, his blood red skin merged into this fleshy hue by pure chance. A purple glaze here, and dapple of skin there and the fleshy, almost baby-skin look emerged. I tried to ape the metallic bronze look of Daethskar once more for his weapon and I think I was semi-successful there. 

Replicating the look of ancient bronze is far easier on a larger scale. 

I kept things simple with his horn, using my usual 'bone' mixes to give, what I hope, is a shell/horn type finish. He has shades of the Roman cherubs about him and his baby-like face was rather tricky to capture the character of. His hair is Sunburst Yellow highlighted with Bleached Bone and then washed with an Orange Ink glaze, serving well as a spot colour but matching the shade in the horn well enough. 

The imp was a challenging but rewarding figure to paint. I have memories of painting the Devil Attacking and the Wolfman and there were once part of my former collection of painted models. My top want back in those days was the wonderful Headless Ghost though the Spectre is more ghostly than many other of the spectral figures GW put out over the decades. You can almost see the goblin hiding beneath those dirty and rather tattered sheets!

Orlygg

The Second Day of Citadel: Bloodbowl Snotling

 

I knew I had another Bloodbowl figure up there! The temptation to search through the loft once more was too strong this morning and this little figure was retrieved. He painted up quickly as his size would suggest and is, like all of Kevin Adam's creations, full of malignant mischief. 

He is one of a fistful of snotlings released alongside the original starplayers in 1988. I am sure you know the set - yes the one with the little bugger doing a dump in a helmet and with another flipping the bird. Both amusing concepts now totally alien to GW's modern grimdarkTM setting of ultra-violence in a supersage corporate context. Over the years, I've owned and painted all of the figures from this small group so I am glad I've got this one to enjoy now. 

Second Edition Bloodbowl is full of humour and zany ideas well worth celebrating on this blog for many years to come. I've just noticed while I type these words that I've scuffed his boots while drybrushing the base. I'll have to put that right tomorrow. In the past, once a figure was done I left it alone but I can't help going back and tinkering with figures now. I'll improve on the quality of those boots later on. I've gone back and improved the eyes of Sanity Claws and added the glowing orbs that served Daethskar as I said I would. 

I've had another go at snapping my models with the new grey background and I'm pleased with the results. Both of my previous paint jobs look a little better. Take a look...

I tried the replicate the green of Sanity Claws on this snotling but it didn't quite work. I should have used a darker green basecoat on this lovely snot to get that level of richness. Something worth remembering next time I do a goblinoid. 

Daethskar now looks evil incarnate with his glowing, yellow eyes. I've also tried to touch up the white area around where the original lettering was placed. It looks to me to be an enamel white that is hard to replicate with acrylics but it certainly looks tidier. 

His armour looks much more archaic now too. Like the stuff you see from Ancient Greece in museums. I hope to use this kind of finish on a model I am working on right now from the Night Horrors range. Here's hoping I can replicate it easily. 

Until tomorrow, I hope you all are having or had a wonderful Christmas break and you too have found the opportunity to indulge in a little painting time. 

Orlygg