Deth Wizards – 2: The first formula

Since Deth Wizards is more of a side project for me, despite the goal of playing at CONflict, I decided to try my hand at painting a bit smoother and not rush myself with the skeletons. Of course, they're not really special models, but what can I say, I like to paint and I like to take my time.

I also tend to forget how I painted some models, which is why I like to write myself “recipes”.

“What does it mean, grandfather?” asked Givana when she asked her grandfather Karl about the actual meaning of the words.

 “That, my little one, is the first formula of awakening. Beginners speak the formulas loud and clear before moving on to the next stage.” he replied.

 He gestured to the skeleton of a deer that they had hunted last night and spent most of the day stripping of its flesh. It would feed them well for the week and the hide would be tanned and used to decorate their nearby hut. The bones were now laid out on an old stone table. The cave they were in could hardly be described as such. The floor was firmly planked and almost perfectly flat, the walls were lined with shelves filled with books and the detailed anatomies of various animals and humans were written on paper the size of a canvas.

 She spoke the words: “Dùisg agus falbh.”

 It took a moment for the skeleton to begin to stand up like a doll and move limply. A few heartbeats later, it slowly began to put one foot in front of the other and move forward. First one step, then another and another. Until it ran into the wall and finally collapsed again.

 Givana, who had just been watching the awakened skeleton in amazement, now burst out laughing. Karl also grinned with amusement.

 “That wasn't bad for a start, Givana. But you see, the dead have no mind of their own. At least not these ones.” said Karl, clearly emphasizing the word ‘these’.

 “We'll continue tomorrow. You've learned enough for today.”

In this case, I only really experimented with the bones. They were painted in Bonewhite and roughly washed once with Agrax Earthshade, although I meant it a little too well, as some areas are now a little shiny. But no big deal, that's what experiments are there for - to experiment. I then tried to touch up the original areas with diluted Bonewhite in order to achieve a slightly softer transition and not lose the effect of the shading. Finally, the more edgy areas of the bones were highlighted again with a mix of white and bonewhite and finally with pure white, which created a nice optical illusion of gradients.

Of course, I will only do this for this warband, as you tend to need entire hordes of undead if you want to lead a larger force of undead warriors into the field. But for starters, I'm quite happy with the result.

I think the next skeletal melee fighter will also be painted in this style before I possibly try something new with the archers.

Until then, greetings from the Chaosbunker

Dino