Rippa's Snarlfangs

Filed Under: Hobby

I want a whole army of wolf riders but I cannot have one! These are the only 3 wolf riders currently available in AoS! It’s Kurnothi all over again! A terrible shame.

These came together really well. I started off with a zenithal basecoat, but hadn’t made up my mind about what colours to use until I grabbed a pot of yellow Contrast paint and tried it on the plume. That bright yellow dictated the rest of the scheme and it all fell into place. Blue, green, yellow.

They were quick, too. Contrast and washes allowed me to get good results on the fur, leather, plumes and wrappings really quickly, with just a little drybrushing and layering at the end to add highlights.

I’m particularly pleased with the metal, another successful test ride for Vallejo Metal Colors. Look at Stabbit’s shield:

In one smooth coat of Copper I was able to lay down the base. Next, I worked a bit of Aethermatic Blue into the grooves (looks cool as heck). Then a little bit of Nihilakh Oxide in places where I thought there should be stronger oxidization like around the bolts. Then I just highlighted up a bit with Gold and, finally, edge-highlighted with Silver right on the top of the shield. Very fast, very simple, very fun.

For the blades (e.g. Rippa’s sword) I used Burnt Iron followed by a dark green-blue wash, then highlighted up to Silver.

A note about the rims of the bases: Some people don’t like base rims to be anything other than black or dark brown. Now, my opinion is that the rim is as much part of the model as everything else, and it can be used to contribute to the overall effect. In this instance, the sky blue on the rims contrasts with the yellow ground and suggests the desert sky under which the Snarlfangs ride. To choose black instead would be a shrug. In fact, I think it might detract from the final result, because nothing else on the model is black enough for it to match with, or white enough for it to pop against. I’m not saying you should never paint rims black, just that you should probably be able to justify it artistically.