Friday, 18 April 2025

The Skeleton Horde: First painted figures and free-hand shield designs

Using the original paints really helps capture the 'Eavy Metal feel of the old pages of White Dwarf.

I have hoped over the last few months, that Easter would bring me time to enjoy plenty of natural light and some free time to get some of those wonderful plastic skeletons painted. As you may recall, I had a crack at one way back in January and it was a total disaster. 

I had obviously forgotten how to paint. 

Over the last few months, old Orlygg has cracked on (with a lot of help from his friends) to reach this point. Three properly painted skeletons. As you can see, these boneyard brothers look much, much better than that desperate first attempt. 

One thing I didn't want to use was white. I felt that I'd overused white on those earlier models when highlighting. So the final highlight was going to be Bleached Bone all the way. Having picked up a couple of pots of the stuff at Salute, I've spent the last week tinkering with my recipe. So I don't forget, and if any of you dear readers are interested, this is my go-to method for the Skeleton Horde. 

Skull White undercoat. Orc Brown basecoat. Brown ink shading around ribs, skull, hands, feet and other joints. Second Orc Brown coat to tidy up the model. Finally, Bleached Bone over eighty percent of the figure. 

Very simple I know, but I think its highly effective. Considering there are another twenty figures left to do for the Horde whatever method I employ needs to to fast and foolproof. 

Let me know what you think of my progress. 

Nothing says Old School Citadel than homebrew painted shield designs. I really missed my old archive of WD when painting these shields, those old mags are just bursting with inspiration. 

While I was working on the figures the issue of shields came to mind. What would the Horde be without an array of hand-painted designs? Though I lacked the original shields for undead, I had several of same period examples to use. By chance, the first three I found were all the same size. As I was feeling a lot more confident about working on fantasy models, I just cracked on with some skull designs just like I did in the old days. 

The results are clear to see here. 

I chose Sunburst Yellow, Bilious Green and Electric Blue to be the background colours. As I progress, each new skull shield will have a different colour background. Of the three I've done so far, I'm most pleased with the yellow. It gives me Advanced Heroquest vibes for some reason. The skulls were quite straight forwards in the end. I used the brown ink to create the basic shape, highlighted with Orc Brown, then Bleached Bone before picking out the final details with Skull White. I found the white helped separate the bone of the shields with the bone of the skeleton figures. 

I hope you like the shields as I feel that there is a lot of the 'Old Orlygg' about them and that I am slowly rebuilding my knowledge and skill about how to best paint these classic models. 

pro-Painted plastik Warhamma Skeleton RARE 198'0s £14.99

For context, I've included my first attempt at a plastic skeleton. It looks like one of those old 'Pro-Painted' figures you used to see on eBay... I wonder if that tradition is still a thing? 

If you've followed me over the years, you will know that I cannot stick to one thing for very long. There are just too many beautifully imagined figures to work on, even in a tiny collection such as my own. I want to do some more of those Specialty Set Chaos Warriors in the near future but what has really caught my eye are those Hobbit Personalities I picked up a few weeks ago. 

They are the next figures on the table and I am hoping to get them finished before the end of the Easter Weekend. 

Wish me luck,

Orlygg

22 comments:

  1. You are improving for sure, and those shields are very nice.

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    1. Thank you Mike. I really enjoyed painting them and want to do more in the near future. Obviously, finding enough shields is a challenge as is researching designs. I may even be tempted to do a banner!!

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  2. Beautiful work. Your shields are always an inspiration.

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  3. Great stuff. Lovely work on the skellys, and those shields look just right.

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    1. Thank you, you know, I wish I still had the old Arcane Amorials. Sure, the colours were '80s naff in the extreme but the designs were fantastic. I wonder if anyone has some decent images of the old transfers out there?

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  4. Those three look like they've simply stepped right out of your older posts, it's like doing them come back from the dead! Excellent work and such a simple recipe which had brought great results.

    The shield are fantastic I've never really had the confidence to try painting freehand shield (except some very simple Bretonnian ones) yours are always so inspiring.

    When I get back round to my Orcs I'm going to have to give it a go and see what I can produce.

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    1. I am glad I can be an inspiration still. I'll do some old school style tutorial posts at some point, largely to help me remember how to do things, but hopefully helpful for others who haven't yet taken the freehand plunge.

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    2. A tutorial would be really useful 😁

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  5. They look great, perfect skeleton horde material! Would you mind if we borrowed them for a game at BOYL? Need as many as I can get my hands on...

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  6. Great improvement and fab shields. I've always liked your approach to basing and bookmarked your old post on it.

    Ever considered a dot of colour in your eye sockets? Red would be very Lichemasteresque though I thin eerie green could work too.

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    1. Oh eyesockets! I'm building up the courage to have a go at doing eyes once again. I am just finishing off Gandalf at the moment and whimped out on the Bilbo figure. We will have to see but your idea interests me. We will have to see.

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  7. The skeletons are looking great, that middle one is straight out of a Harryhausen movie. The shields are really impressive and definitely have some of your old style. The bit of verdigris on the sword hilts are a nice touch.

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    1. Thank you Ian. Yes, those sword hilts were tricky. Shining Gold is quite pale and all too similar to bone. I tried using orange ink to change the tone but the impact was lost when highlighting. The verdigris was an attempt to provide contrast.

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  8. Really cool Oldhammer skeletons.

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  9. Absolutely great, what's not to love about them?

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    1. Well Suber, I'm still not happy with the painting around the ribs but that's something that should improve with time. I have four spear skellies waiting for assembly some time this week. Then I'll see if I can refine the painting process and get the full unit finished.

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  10. Very nice! They remind me of Jason and the Argonauts.

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    1. That sir, is a fantastic compliment! Thank you!

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  11. As a longtime undead fan, I approve! I can't wait to see more of them from you.

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