This is a project that I started years ago, but have not finished until recently. I had a bit of a "painter's mental block" on this project until a few weeks ago. I'm not sure if that is a real thing or not, but if writer's block is real, then I'm just going to assert that painter's block is also real. I'm not quite sure what it was.
The pinions were certainly part of it which I did want to airbrush initially, but veered away from in the end. I'm not sure if I've done them justice or not using traditional painting, but it'll do. The blend from grays to blacks all over was challenging, but the sheer detail in the sculpt helped along the way no end.
I also didn't know what type of legionary Corax's opponent was until I started the World Eaters project of mine - this decided it in the end as ultimately this was going to be very Isstvan in origin if I could help it. I've applied some decals to the World Eater to give it a bit more impact.
The broken tiles were also a challenge until I decided upon the alternating pattern that I've painted up some of the older scenery in my collection with. Deciding which tile was going to be blue, and which was going to be vanilla was surprisingly difficult to envision across the broken nature of the diorama. Some were just guesses, but others were trying to visualize what the tiles would have looked like before Corax smashed into them. I think I've got this bit almost right overall.
The debris is picked out in two tones as well. I was going to just go for rock grey initially, but the base of the miniature cried out in more earthy colours. This was also a point of indecision, which ultimately also went for two-tones in the end. The larger slabs are picked out in the grey colour, whereas the smaller debris is the earthy brown colour overall. They provide a surprisingly nice contrast to each other without either seeming out of place or dominating. This is rounded off by some splashes of metallic paint and night haunt gloom technical blue paint streaked here and there.
Speaking of technical paint. The blood for the blood god paint is just brilliant once again with the World Eater. Although the core of the chest has this painted on, I've added more sploshes to the chain blade as well as the pistol hand as it lets go of the side arm in the moment. Contrast red paint has also been flicked over the surface to round it all off. This is a legionary who chanced his luck against the enemy lord and fell very short indeed.
Corax himself was also a bit challenging in his own right due to the sheer detail in the sculpt. I could have gone further by having the pouches painted in a leathery colour, but held back on that and opted for the matte off-black shade instead. I'm not sure the dry brushing on these has paid off, but I am satisfied regardless.
And his face. Oh my. That took a lot of effort to get even vaguely right. I mis-painted one of the pupils in the eyes as well first time and had to correct this. That was a pain and very embarrassing. The face, if anything, was intended to be a bit more pale, but given that he's probably been fighting on the sands of Isstvan for weeks without so much as having a wash, I suspect the deeper colour is no bad thing. I should probably have added some stubble, but hey, maybe he doesn't grow facial hair, or that's his one grooming habit on Isstvan using one of his lightning claws to have a really close shave. I think I've got the look of matted hair done well though, even with the dynamism in the model. The face is a really beautiful sculpt overall - I'm very excited by it.
Hope you like it! It has been far too long to finish off due to the painter's block!
Comments very welcome.
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