Painting HeroQuest: Episode 21 - The Abominations

Steps

1. 1 Prime both Abomination sculpts, then airbrush Moonray Flesh onto the undersides of the arms and front of the chest for the lighter skin tone shown in the artwork.
2. 2 Base coat the rest of the skin with Tyrian Navy on most of the minis, using Raging Sea instead on a few for variety.
3. 3 Base coat the loincloths, using Neutral Grey on some and Flat Brown on others.
4. 4 Base coat the barnacles with Wraithbone, heavy on the alternate sculpt and a few on the shoulders of the other.
5. 5 Paint the starfish on the base-game sculpt with Bloody Red, then thin down Moonray Flesh to ease the transition between the light and dark skin tones.
6. 6 Fill in the inside of the mouth with Abaddon Black.
7. 7 Highlight the lighter chest and underarm skin by mixing Offwhite into Moonray Flesh over the muscles, building up with a second, lighter pass.
8. 8 Highlight the loincloths, mixing Offwhite into Neutral Grey for the grey ones and Moonray Flesh into the brown ones, then pick out the rope on the barnacled sculpt's loincloth with Iraqui Sand.
9. 9 Highlight the Tyrian Navy skin over all the upturned surfaces with a Dark Sea Blue and Pale Grey Blue mix, using short lines drawn to the edge on the armor plates for texture; repeat the process on the barnacled miniature, then apply a second, lighter pass with more Pale Grey Blue mixed in.
10. 10 Highlight the Raging Sea skin the same way, using Innsmouth Blue mixed with Pale Grey Blue in two passes.
11. 11 Paint the nails and teeth with Morghast Bone, and the shaft of the weapon with Zandri Dust.
12. 12 Fill in the eyes with Bold Titanium White, then wash the teeth with Reikland Fleshshade.
13. 13 Sparingly shade the lighter skin areas with Seraphim Sepia, then shade the claws, weapon shaft, starfish, and barnacles with Agrax Earthshade.
14. 14 Glaze the eyes with Lamenters Yellow, then highlight the claws and teeth by mixing Bold Titanium White into Morghast Bone.
15. 15 Base coat the metal weapon ends and belt buckle with Broadsword Silver mixed with a little Payne's Grey ink, and paint the bases with Waaagh! Flesh.
16. 16 Edge highlight the blade and any protruding weapon details with Ironbreaker, using the same color to highlight the belt and buckle.
17. 17 Seal the whole miniature with a matte varnish, then add a touch of gloss varnish to the eyes for shine.

Paints used

• Abaddon Black (Citadel)

  Primer coat for both Abomination sculpts, and the inside of the mouth

• Agrax Earthshade (Citadel)

  Wash over the claws, weapon shaft, starfish, and barnacles

• Bloody Red (Vallejo Game Color)

  The starfish on the base-game sculpt

• Bold Titanium White (Pro Acryl)

  Fill for the eyes; also mixed into Morghast Bone to highlight the claws and teeth

• Broadsword Silver (Army Painter, Speedpaint 2.0)

  Base coat mixed with Payne's Grey ink for the metal weapon ends and belt buckle

• Dark Sea Blue (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Mixed with Pale Grey Blue as the highlight color for the Tyrian Navy skin

• Flat Brown (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Loincloth base color, as an alternative to Neutral Grey

• Innsmouth Blue (Scale75 Scalecolor)

  Mixed with Pale Grey Blue as the highlight color for the Raging Sea skin

• Iraqui Sand (Vallejo, Model Color)

  The rope around the barnacled sculpt's loincloth

• Ironbreaker (Citadel)

  Edge highlight on the blade and protruding weapon details, and on the belt and buckle

• Lamenters Yellow (Citadel)

  Glaze over the Abomination's eyes

• Moonray Flesh (Scale75 Scalecolor)

  Airbrushed onto the lighter skin (chest and undersides of the arms); thinned to ease the transition to the dark skin; mixed with Offwhite for the light-skin highlight and used for the brown loincloth highlight

• Morghast Bone (Citadel)

  Base coat for the nails and teeth; also mixed with Bold Titanium White to highlight the claws and teeth

• Neutral Grey (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Loincloth base color, mixed with Offwhite for the highlight

• Offwhite (AK Interactive)

  Mixed into Moonray Flesh to highlight the light skin, and into Neutral Grey to highlight the grey loincloths

• Pale Grey Blue (Vallejo, Model Color)

  Mixed into both Dark Sea Blue and Innsmouth Blue as the highlight color for the two skin tones

• Payne's Grey (Daler-Rowney, FW Acrylic Ink)

  Mixed into Broadsword Silver for the metal weapon and belt base coat

• Raging Sea (Army Painter, Speedpaint 2.0)

  Alternate base skin color used on a few minis in place of Tyrian Navy

• Reikland Fleshshade (Citadel)

  Wash over the teeth

• Seraphim Sepia (Citadel)

  Sparing shade on the lighter skin areas

• Tyrian Navy (Army Painter, Speedpaint 2.0)

  Base coat for most of the skin, over anything the airbrush missed or that should read darker

• Waaagh! Flesh (Citadel)

  Painting the miniature bases

• Wraithbone (Citadel)

  Base coat for the barnacles

• Zandri Dust (Citadel)

  The shaft of the weapon