Limited Edition Thrud the Barbarian

Citadel produced a number of Thrud models through the years. This one is my favourite of them all!

I have made the most of this weekend's bright light and cracked on with the large number of half-finished projects that adorn my painting space. If I am being truthful, I have an obscene amount of WIPs spread across my painting station and it really is time to get through the back log. This model, a limited release Thrud, is actually a recent addition to the leadpile. Its been a model I have been after for many years, as it appeared in a black and white photograph in the first few pages of the Third Edition rulebook.

Perhaps you know the image to which I am referring?

Anyway, this model allowed me the opportunity to go to town on my now much practised flesh painting technique. I based Thrud in my usual way (a very thin white undercoat) and gave the whole model a good coating with a mid-tone flesh colour. Over this I washed a dark red/flesh mix wash. Once dry, I painted the base colours for the rest of the model and coated the lot once again with a brown/chestnut ink wash to bring out all of the detail and create the shadows in the deepest parts of the model. 

Then it was a simple case of mixing up a suitable flesh basecoat and working up to my usual flesh highlight. As most of the model is slabs of muscle I found that the miniature practically painted itself during this process. The helmet and weapon came next and were quickly coated thanks to Foundry's metallic triad. I used a simple drybrushing technique over a washed base before edging in bright silver. 

Thrud in a rear shot. I deepened the colour tone in the depths of the muscle in a nod to his cartoon origins.

The loincloth took a little more work. Robert E Howard's Conan stories were never very far away from my mind here aso I opted for a golden girdle around Thrud's waist. I used the more modern GW paints for this as their new golds are really good paints. The leather work was a simple brown basecoat worked up with added Bestial brown and Bleached Bone. Finally, I used drybrushing with e the same colours to bring out the detail on the boots. I mixed in a little red to my brown leather paint mix to produce the strapping around the heels.

Job done!

Thrud squares up to the Wereman from my previous post and a WIP Treeman.

What next for the paint brush?

Orlygg