Shaaroc the Reviled

In this week's bonus post, Ryan goes back in time to March, when he painted Shaaroc the Reviled and then ignored the post for seven months. Now, in this remastered version with commentary, you can see how he did it!

Back in March, I was frantically finishing up a Warriors of Chaos army for the now-defunct Warhammer. I had decided to add a Dragon Ogre Shaggoth, and had always had my eye on Shaaroc the Reviled to fill that role. This was the first model by Mierce Miniatures that I had ever bought, and boy was I excited to be painting it!

This is another in what looks like it may be a series of "stuff Ryan took lots of pictures of but didn't document his paint scheme". My apologies for not remembering what the colors were, but the layering process is still on display!

Technique/Color notes

I did this one a little unusually for how I paint now; I did the basecoat for my two major colors (the blue of the scales and white of the underbelly and horns/claws) simultaneously, and washed both together before going into my typical layering. This is a format that serves dipping really well - paint all your basecoats, then dip. There was no way on earth that Shaaroc was fitting in a dip container, so I have to assume I did it because I'd intended to do some wash trickery. However, it's odd that I'd do it this way without basecoating the reds for the mouth and weapon wraps. I might have forgotten, or I might have decided to do a different wash mixture for the red. I can't remember which!

For the color scheme, I wanted to use a blue like Shaaroc is painted on the box, but wanted some turquoise colors to hint at the Conand/sea connection to the Fomoraic. I also modified the model by buying a second axe head, and sawing the hilt of Shaaroc's great weapon at his right hand. I then repositioned his hands to angle them, and used the second axe head to allow him to be dual-wielding, instead of just wielding the massive polearm he is equipped with. I wanted to continue the dark-top, light underbelly natural camo scheme of the Brythoniaid on Shaaroc, so I decided to do his chest in the same light brown tones I would do his horns and claws with.

The Painting Bit

For the first coat, I went with 4 parts turquoise blue, cut with 2 parts SS camo Black Brown and 1 part Black to produce a much darker turquoise.

Base coat, front

Base coat, rear

I did three washes: 6:1 of water to blue ink, and 8:1 of water to purple ink, and 10:1 of water to black ink, each with 1-2 drops of future floor wax to help get the ink into the recesses.

Wash, front

Washes, rear

The second layer was 2 parts Turquoise to 2 parts ultramarine blue, with half a drop of SS Camo Black Brown thrown in to bring the color down.

Second layer, front

Second layer, rear

The third layer was 3 parts Turquoise to 1 part Ultramarine Blue.

Third layer, front

Third layer, rear

The fourth layer was all Turquoise.

Fourth layer, front

Fourth layer, rear

The fifth layer was 3 parts Turquoise to 1 part Electric Blue.

Fifth layer, front

Fifth layer, rear

The sixth layer was 3 parts Electric Blue to 2 parts Turquoise

Sixth layer, front

Sixth layer, rear

Sixth layer, face detail

The seventh layer was all Electric Blue.

Seventh layer, front

The eighth and ninth layer were 3:1 electric blue to Skull White, and 1:3 Electric Blue to Skull White. I didn't take separate pictures of these layers, because they were painted in very rapid succession.

Eighth and ninth layer, front

Eighth and ninth layer, front

As a bonus, here's the mixing pots for all nine layers, going from dark to light. This helps show what the transition between colors is! Typically for a large model, I tend to really tight transitions for the 3-6th layers, as these will be the ones covering 75% of the body and transition lines will be much more obvious. The darker and lighter shades, while harsher in transition, reflect a smaller surface area of the body, and so I can get away with harsher transitions between them. For smaller models, or models where I only intend to do 4-5 layers, these are typically the layers I combine.

The mixes, from dark to light

For the bone, I went very light; I started with cobra leather (which gives a lighter base coat than I usually do, when I start with a bestial brown/SS Camo Black Brown mix). I also added a drop of Medium Grey, because I always do. The third layer added a 50/50 mix of Cobra Leather to Pale Flesh, with a drop of medium grey.

Bone, second and third layer, front

Bone, second and third layer, rear

For the fourth layer, I did a 50/50 mix of Pale Flesh to Bone White

Bone, fourth layer, rear

Bone, fourth layer, front

For the fifth layer, I used 3 parts Bone White to 1 part Skull White, which is typically my final layer for bone. I zoomed in for this one, to make the detail more obvious.

Bone, fifth layer, detail

I went with my typical non-metallic color scheme for the steel - Andrea's NMM box set, wet blended into each other. I also based the model after this step.

After the non-metallic steel, on original base.

Here's the model on his original base. I grew frustrated with it after one game, as the "leaning-up position" moved his center of gravity too far back, and he fell over far more than I was comfortable with. I'll see if I can find some pictures of him on his new base tonight; for now it's enough to tell you that he's still on a base that's far too small, but now he's charging down it, not climbing up.

Finished model, front, original base

Finished model, rear, original base